Where Do We Go From Here?
by vellathewench
Summary: What happens when Dean and Sam Winchester end up in Mystic Falls? How did they get there? How will they make it back home? Will they hunt vampires or will the vampires hunt them?  Vella, my OC from my TVD fanfic shows up as well
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 ~ A Flash of Light

The black 1967 Impala was speeding down the interstate through Virginia, when Dean became hungry.

He pulled the car off of the interstate, stopping at a small diner, in some tiny town he didn't know the name of, Sam was asleep in the passenger seat. He flicked his ear to wake him, chuckling as Sam bolted upright, startled.

"Dean!" Sam cried out groggily. "You could have just called my name."

He smiled at his brother teasingly. "What would be the fun in that?" Sam just gave his brother a dirty look and rolled his eyes in reply.

"Are you gonna eat or what?" Dean asked, jumping out of the car before he even had a chance to answer.

Sam grinned as his brother slammed his door shut, following right behind him.

After they ate lunch, the two brothers once again got into the black Impala and headed back onto the interstate.

"Where are we going, Dean?" Sam asked curiously.

"Bobby called while you were sleeping," he answered. "There's a job for us in Atlanta."

"What kind of job?"

"Not sure," he replied, glancing at his brother quickly before looking back at the road. "He was kind of vague."

"That doesn't sound like Bobby," Sam said suspiciously.

Dean didn't reply to Sam's obvious worry, he was concerned as well, but he didnt want to draw attention to it. He hoped that once they arrived in Atlanta, they would know why Bobby had been so cryptic on the phone, but he usually had a good reason.

Sam pulled out his laptop and began searching through news articles in and around Atlanta. He didn't like walking blindly into a situation if it could be helped. He was suspicious about Bobby's call as well, perhaps more so than his brother. He was always more of a worrier than Dean.

"Dean," Sam called frustrated, thirty minutes later. "I can't find anything in any newspaper or article that sounds remotely supernatural."

"Bobby wouldn't send us to Atlanta if there wasn't a good reason, Sam," he stated matter-of-factly, hoping that would end his worry.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he mumbled in reply. "I just wish I knew what it could be."

Dean shot his brother a quick, knowing glance before watching the road once again.

It was much later in the afternoon when the brothers came across a road closure due to a massive tractor trailer accident. They didn't have a choice but to make a detour, so they pulled off the interstate to find a way around. Sam pulled out his laptop once again, bringing up a map of the area so they wouldn't get lost. The brothers had been all around the US and back many times, but they weren't familiar with this particular part of Virginia.

They were a few hours outside of Georgia, hurtling down a paved country road, when they could see a town sign in the distance. Sam was about to glance at his laptop to see what town they were approaching when suddenly there was a bright flash of light in front of them. The light was so bright, both Sam and Dean had to close their eyes, covering them with their hands, while Dean floored the brakes, stopping the Impala so suddenly, they could hear the tires squeal on the pavement.

Seconds later, Sam peeked out from behind his fingers slowly, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He poked his brother. "Dean, you can open your eyes now."

Dean removed his hands from his eyes, opening them slowly. He blinked quickly a few times, turning to his brother with a questioning look. "What the hell was that?"

His brother shrugged his shoulders slightly, looking just as confused. "Not sure."

"I'm gonna call, Bobby," Dean said, pulling his phone out of his jeans pocket.

"Dean, wait," Sam said quickly. "Look at this." He turned his laptop around so Dean could see the screen. "I can't bring up anything. No internet signal whatsoever."

"Maybe whatever that light was knocked it out somehow," he replied nonchalantly. "I'm gonna try Bobby."

Sam had a feeling it wasn't going to work, but he knew better than to contradict his brother, it would only lead to an argument.

"Dammit!" Dean yelled in frustration. "No signal."

"This is strange, Dean. Even for us."

He glanced at his brother, nodding his head once in agreement. "Let's just get to the next town and figure out where to go from here."

Sam closed his now useless laptop and threw it in the backseat, then turned back to watch out the window. They passed the town welcome sign, reading it, but not comprehending at first.

"Hey, Dean," he called, looking confused. "Have you ever heard of a town called Mystic Falls?"

"No," he replied with a raised eyebrow. "But I don't know the name of every little town."

Sam rolled his eyes sarcastically. "It just seems kind of familiar, but I'm not sure why."

Dean grinned at his brother mischieviously. "As long as there's food, alcohol and hot women, I don't care what it's called."

He laughed at his brother, shaking his head. "We're lost and have no clue what's going on and all you can think about is food, booze and women?"

He shrugged his shoulders in reply, smiling innocently. "No reason I can't have fun while figuring out our next move."

"Yeah, right," Sam replied, rolling his eyes.

The brothers were silent as they continued to drive towards the town, stopping only a few minutes later at the first motel they spotted. Sam headed into the motel office to arrange for a room, while Dean waited patiently in the car listening to a cassette, the radio didn't seem to be working either.

Sam came back to the car a few minutes later. "Room five, Dean," he said when he opened the door. He reached into the backseat, picking up his duffle bag, then headed to their room.

Dean took the car keys from the ignition and shoved them into the pocket of his jeans, fishing out a quarter. He locked the car, walking over to the pay phone that was just outside of the office and tried to call Bobby. He tried several times, but each time he continued to get the same recorded message, 'Your call cannot be completed as dialed, please hang up and try your call again.' After the fifth try, he slammed the handset down on the receiver in frustration. "Son of a bitch!" he cried. He stood still for a moment, glancing around, then headed to his room.

"Dammit, Sam!" he yelled as he closed the door behind him. "What the hell is going on?"

Sam narrowed his eyes in confusion. "I don't know."

"I tried to call Bobby from the pay phone, but all I get is a stupid message. It's almost like he doesn't exist."

He opened his mouth to say something, then decided not to say what he was thinking, shaking his head instead. "I don't know, Dean, but look at this," he said, handing his brother a newspaper. "There seems to be a lot of animal attacks around here."

"Animal attacks?" he said questioningly while taking the paper from his brother, glancing at it quickly. "Is there much detail about the bodies?"

"No, not really," he replied. "I think we should do some research though."

"We could always talk to the sheriff," he suggested.

"No, I don't think we should, Dean. We don't know what that strange light was or why we can't get a hold of Bobby. I think we need to be more cautious."

He stood watching his brother pensievely for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders lightly. "What do you suggest?"

"We could always go to the library. Look up old news articles."

"Sounds like fun," he replied sarcastically. "How about you go to the library and I stay here and sleep? I haven't slept since early yesterday."

"Yeah, whatever."

Dean retrieved the car keys from the pocket of his jeans, chucking them lightly to his brother. "Take care of my baby...and watch your back. We don't know what's going on here."

He nodded in agreement, saying nothing more, then left the motel room.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 ~ Accidental Meeting

It was several hours before Sam returned to the motel room, his eyes sore from looking at a computer screen for so long. He slammed the door shut hard, hoping it would wake his brother if he was still sleeping, then proceeded to sit on the couch, spreading out several newspaper articles he'd printed at the library.

Dean came stumbling out of bed a few minutes later, his hair in disarray, a sour look on his face. "Was that really necessary?"

"Payback's a bitch," Sam said with a wink, grinning.

Dean glared at him with annoyance for a moment, then joined him on the couch. "So, what did you find out?"

"There's been a rash of animal attacks around this town for the past three years or so, on and off. There was very little detail about the bodies, even less than what we usually see. Almost like they've been covering it up."

"That seems a bit strange," Dean remarked. "Were you able to figure out what might be doing all of this?"

"No, not really. I do know it's not werewolves, the lunar pattern is all wrong. But as for what it is, I'm not sure."

"What about vampires?"

"That's one of the possibilities."

"What do you think? Should we check it out?"

"I don't know, Dean," he replied shaking his head uncertainly. "But maybe we can figure out what's going on that way."

He laid back on the couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table. "That can wait until tomorrow, it's getting dark. Let's grab something to eat and have a little fun and relaxation tonight."

Sam smiled knowingly, nodding his head in agreement. He collected the papers up from the table, stacking them neatly.

"I'm gonna go get cleaned up, meet you in the car," Dean said grinning.

He smiled, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, sure."

The brothers headed a few blocks in to town, searching for a bar. They passed one, but it seemed quiet, so Dean passed it by, he wanted somewhere busier, somewhere he could find out more about the town, and possibly find a larger selection of chicks to pick up.

They drove around a bit, finally finding more people congregating near the center of town. The passed a few places that looked promising, but then Dean saw one that seemed fitting somehow.

Sam looked at his brother strangely. "The Mystic Grill?"

"Why not?" he replied with a grin, as he parked the car.

"I don't know, Dean. All of this seems strange, yet familiar."

"Can you stop being such a worrier for one night?"

Sam looked very unimpressed. "Maybe you can, but I can't."

"Well, try not to be such a buzzkill for once."

He rolled his eyes heavily in response.

Dean ignored him, heading towards The Grill, Sam following behind him only seconds later. The second Sam walked in, he had a severe case of déja vu. He felt liked he'd been here before, but he was unsure why. He was positive he'd never been here, but it looked so familiar. He was so busy looking around, he almost didn't realize his brother had already sat down at a table. Once he noticed, he sat on the opposite side of the table, still eyeing the room curiously.

When the waitress arrived, Dean ordered them both a beer. The minute she walked away, he swatted his brother on the arm.

"What's gotten in to you?"

He glared at his brother irritated for a moment, before replying. "I swear I recognize this place, Dean. I don't know how, but I do."

"I think you're just being paranoid, Sam," he said, grinning at the waitress as she set their beers down on the table.

"Paranoia or not, something really weird is going on."

"I'm gonna worry about that in the morning," he said with a grin, while checking out some women sitting in one of the booths.

"I don't understand why you aren't taking this seriously, Dean. This could be the work of the trickster again."

"And it might not. What's freakin' out about it gonna do?"

"I'm not freaking out about it, Dean. I just don't want you to forget something weird is going on here. We shouldn't drop our guard."

"I won't, Sam. Geez."

He rolled his eyes, then took a swig from his beer, ignoring Dean's smug grin.

Dean got up from the table, walking over to the ladies he'd been watching earlier.

Sam watched his brother for a few moments, before he went back to gazing around the room, trying to figure out why the place seemed so familiar to him. He watched people coming and going for quite awhile, before he noticed someone who seemed familiar, in fact it was two someones. A young man with short, dirty blonde hair and his girlfriend with long, straight, brown hair. He had no idea who they were, but they seemed familiar for some reason. He watched them inconspicuously for a short time, but it didn't help him figure out who they were or how he recognized them.

Sam ordered himself another beer, when he realized Dean wasn't going to be coming back to sit with him, he was still sitting with the group of women he'd gone to flirt with earlier. He wasn't expecting him back, at least until much later.

He'd just begun searching the room again when a man with short, dark hair walked in, hand in hand with a woman with long, brown hair. The man seemed familiar but the woman didn't. They sat at the bar, ordering drinks and talking, nothing unusual. A man with short, dirty blonde hair sat beside them shortly after they arrived, ordering himself a drink and talking to the couple. He too seemed familiar. What the hell is going on? Sam wondered.

He kept the three of them in his line of sight, but he continued to gaze around the room. He saw one of the busboys, who was blonde and blue eyed, who seemed familiar. There were a couple of people playing pool who seemed familiar too. A young woman with long, blonde hair and a young man with short, dark hair. He had no idea what was going on, but it was beginning to freak him out.

After he finished his second beer, Sam decided to go back to the motel room. While there were people who seemed familiar to him, he had no idea why they seemed familiar and he was completely frustrated. He hoped after a good night's sleep, he would be able to figure out what was going on.

He paid for his beer, walking over to the table his brother was sitting at, asking him for the keys to the car, which he handed over reluctantly, but gladly. Dean wasn't ready to leave just yet. He pocketed the keys and proceeded to leave, passing by the bar. As he passed by the woman he'd seen come in with the dark haired man, she got up from her seat, nearly knocking him to the ground.

"I am so sorry," she said, extending her hand to help him up. He took her hand, allowing her to help him up.

"It's fine. I'm good."

She stared at him curiously for a moment. She'd felt something strange when she touched the man, but no visions, like she normally did. "Have we met before?"

"No. I don't think so," Sam replied with surprise.

"You look so familiar," she mumbled.

"There seems to be a lot of that going around," he mumbled quietly under his breath.

"What do you mean?"

He looked at her strangely, wondering how she could have heard him. "Oh, nothing. Just been having a strange day."

She smiled kindly. "My name's Vella Salvatore," she said, reaching her hand to shake his.

He shook her hand. "Sam Winchester."

A strange look of comprehension passed over her eyes for a split second, then was gone. "You must be from out of town."

"Yeah. Just passing through."

She reached towards the man she'd been sitting with, tapping him on the shoulder. He turned around, looking curiously. "Damon, meet Sam Winchester, he's from out of town. Sam this is my husband, Damon Salvatore."

Damon reached out his hand reluctantly, curious as to why his wife was even speaking to this stranger. He wouldn't be rude, in front of her, so he shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Sam shook his hand, wondering why his name sounded familiar. He was really beginning to get worried now. "It's nice to meet you, too." He turned back to Vella, smiling slightly. "I was just heading back to my motel. It's been a long day."

"Oh, I was hoping you'd stay and have a few drinks with us," she said disappointed. "How long will you be in town?"

"I'm not sure, a few days."

"Why don't you stop by here tomorrow afternoon and have a drink with us? My treat."

"Uh, I'll have to ask my brother if we have time. "I'm travelling with him."

I knew it, she thought to herself. This is just too bizarre.

"Well, the invitation stands. Bring your brother along as well."

"Your treat?"

"Of course," she said with a friendly smile.

He flashed a friendly smile in return. "It was nice meeting you, Vella. And you too, Damon."

"Yeah," mumbled Damon.

"Likewise, Sam."

Sam said goodbye, then left the restaurant in a hurry. He still had no idea why things around the town seemed so familiar, but he knew the name of that man, Damon Salvatore, was very familiar. He had a strange feeling he shouldn't meet them tomorrow, or ever, but he would discuss it with his brother before he made a decision.

He stopped in front of Dean's car to think for a moment, before unlocking the car quickly, getting in and driving himself back to the motel. Once he arrived, he finally felt safe, though he was unsure why. He'd felt uneasy since his meeting with Vella and her husband. However, he was too tired to think about it any longer, so he decided to worry about it later, climbing into one of the beds and falling asleep quickly.

"What was that all about?" Damon asked his wife after Sam had left.

Vella was standing beside him, scanning the room, listening, but she didn't answer him. She was too intent on finding someone, which she did, sitting in a corner booth with some women. She grinned knowingly, turning her attention back to her husband.

"Something really weird is going on and it makes no sense."

"Does it have something to do with that guy you were talking to?"

"Yeah," she replied absentmindedly. "His brother, Dean, is sitting over there." She spointed to the corner booth.

"How the hell do you know that's his brother? And how do you know his name? What's going on?"

"Not here, Damon," she said in a hushed tone. "At home."

He looked at her curiously and with concern, but didn't question her. It had to be important enough for her to be so secretive. He allowed her to practically drag him away from the bar, heading home.

When they arrived home, Vella ran into the livingroom, headed to the cabinet by the TV and began rooting through it, while Damon watched intently. She pulled out a DVD case, looking at it for a moment, before tossing it to Damon to look at.

"What is this?" he asked without looking at it.

"Will you just look at it, please?" she asked exasperatedly.

He rolled his eyes, sighing, then glanced at it. He first noticed the title, Supernatural. Then he noticed the pictures of the men, they looked exactly like the men from the bar.

He grinned at his wife teasingly. "You've gone fan girl on me, haven't you?"

She rolled her eyes in frustration. "No, because they aren't them, not exactly."

He shook his head looking at her strangely. "Did you drink too much tonight?" he teased.

She sighed loudly in exasperation, sitting down on the couch, indicating she wanted her husband to sit beside her. Once he did, she took his hand, looking at him with a serious expression.

"This is going to sound really weird, but you need to let me finish." He shook his head in agreement. "You heard that man call himself Sam, right?" He nodded once. "The character in the show is named, Sam, not the actor. The actor's name is Jared Padalecki. So if his name was Jared, why would he introduce himself as Sam?"

"Maybe he didn't want people to notice him, I don't know."

"I heard him mumbling to himself, he seemed a little, uh, disconcerted. Not to mention when I touched him, I didn't get a vision, only a feeling."

"What kind of feeling?" he asked curiously.

"I don't know, it was strange, like he was out of place, not meant to be here." She paused for a moment, her brow furrowing. "I'm not sure what's going on, but it's not natural."

He grinned teasingly. "You mean it's... _supernatural_."

"Ha, ha," she laughed sarcastically. "Not very funny."

"It was and you know it," he teased.

She sighed. "Ok, let's be serious now."

"Fine," he replied. "I just don't understand why you seem to be so agitated about this."

"So, fictional characters from a TV show just happen to show up here and you don't think anything is strange about that?"

"I think it's strange, but why is it our problem?"

She laughed, shaking her head. "Have you ever watched the show, Damon?"

"No. Why?"

"This used to be one of my favorite shows, before I became a vampire. Since then I haven't really had time to keep up on my favorite TV shows," she said with a wink. "Anyways, these guys are hunters. They hunt down supernatural creatures, such as ghosts, demons, werewolves, _vampires_, that kinda thing, and they kill them."

"Surely you're not worried they're going to hunt us?"

"No, I'm not worried. The vampires in their world can only be killed by beheading. They would find it pretty difficult to do that to us, we run much faster. But what I am worried about is, how did they get here and how can we send them back to wherever the hell they came from?"

He smiled seductively as he moved closer to her, squeezing her hand. "Why don't we worry about this tomorrow? I'm sure they'll still be around. Remember I made a promise to you earlier. I just want to keep it."

She smiled at him lovingly, squeezing his hand. "That's the best idea I've heard all day."

**A/N: I'm having a bit of writer's block with this story so it might be a few before I update again. I know how I want it to go, it's just the details I'm having a problem with. I'll update as soon as I can though.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 ~ Knowing Is Only Half The Battle

Sam woke from a restless sleep sometime after dawn. He glanced across the room, relieved to see Dean was asleep in the other bed, he'd been worried about him after all of the weirdness from the night before. He'd thought a good night's sleep would help him figure things out, but he felt just as confused as the night before.

He climbed out of bed, stretching wildly and yawned. He'd been so tired the night before, and he'd fallen asleep quickly, yet he didn't really feel rested. He quickly showered, got dressed and took a walk a couple of blocks away, grabbing himself a coffee. When he returned to the motel room, Dean was sitting up in bed looking hagard and weary eyed.

"Where were you?" he asked suspiciously, the moment he walked through the door.

Sam stopped abruptly, grinning in disbelief. "I could've asked you the same thing last night."

Dean grinned wildly. "Come on, Sammy. You saw the hot chicks I was with last night. You know where I was."

"Well, excuse me for worrying about you, Dean," he said with an eye roll.

"What's going on with you?" he asked, while walking into the bathroom.

"Besides having the weirdest night of my life?" Sam asked sarcastically.

Dean popped his head out of the bathroom, holding on to a toothbrush. "How weird?"

Sam sighed, sitting down at the table, setting down his coffee. "Weird, Dean."

Dean came out of the bathroom a minute later. "What happened?" he asked as he sat down at the table with his brother.

Sam proceeded to tell his brother about the strange meeting with the Salvatores and how they wanted to meet again in the afternoon.

"Maybe we should meet them," Dean suggested, looking around. "Hey, where's my coffee?"

"I didn't get you a coffee. I thought you'd still be sleeping."

"Then let's go get some breakfast, Sammy. I'm starving," he said as he jumped up from the table.

Sam wasn't really in the mood to go back into the strange town just yet, he just wanted to stay in the motel room so he could try to figure out why everything seemed so oddly familiar, but he had to admit he was hungry.

"Here," he said, tossing the car keys to his brother, then proceeded to stand up. Dean caught them, leaving the hotel room without so much as a backwards glance. Sam sighed, following behind him.

The brothers only drove a few blocks away from their motel room, stopping at a small, cozy looking diner. Sam bought a newspaper on the way in, hoping to find something of interest, since his laptop was still useless. Dean scarfed his food down as if he hadn't eaten in awhile, while Sam mostly picked at his food while reading the paper. There were a few last names in the paper that seemed familiar, but yet again, he still had no idea why, but he was becoming increasingly frustrated. He was the one Dean usually relied on to remember obscure lore, yet he couldn't figure out what was so familiar about this town. He knew something wasn't right about this situation, he just wished he could figure it out.

The Winchesters went back to their motel room, against Dean's protests. He wanted to drive around town to search for clues, but Sam insisted on heading back to their room.

"Sam," Dean called suddenly. Sam was sitting on the couch with his nose stuck in the papers he'd received from the library the day before. He lifted his head, narrowing his eyes slightly. "What?"

"What time did you say that Vella woman invited us to the Mystic Grill?"

"She said in the afternoon. Why?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because I could use a distraction right now, Sam. I'm bored out of my skull."

"You're seriously considering taking her up on her invitation?"

Dean sighed. "We're meeting her in a public place. What do you think's gonna happen?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders. "Why don't you go wash your car or something?" he suggested with irritation.

"Why are you acting like a bitch?"

"Why are you acting like a jerk?" Sam retorted.

"Bitch!"

"Jerk!"

"Okay, that's enough!" Dean said irritatedly. "We're going to meet this woman and that's that. Unless you give me some good reason why we shouldn't. And don't you dare say because everything seems familiar but you can't remember why."

"Because she might be a vampire," Sam answered in shock. He wasn't sure why he'd said it, it had just come to him.

"A vampire? Are you serious?"

"Wait," Sam said as he stood up, went to his dufflebag and began rooting around in it. At the bottom, he came across an old magazine he'd picked up at some doctor's office. He skimmed through it quickly, before throwing it on the couch towards Dean. "What is this?" he asked picking it up.

"I knew I'd recognized the name, Damon Salvatore, but I couldn't remember how. Now I do."

"You wanna let me in on it?" Dean replied in frustration.

"He's a character from a TV show called the Vampire Diaries," he answered awkwardly.

"You watch a show called the Vampire Diaries? Really?" Dean asked with a grin.

"I watched an episode or two. But this coming from the guy who's a fan of Dr. Sexy, M.D.."

"Touché."

"But Dean, it's weird enough being in this show somehow. But what's even weirder is, that woman, Vella, she's not in the show. I don't know who the hell she is." He glanced at Dean with confusion. He had finally figured out why everything had seemed familiar, but it didn't give him any comfort whatsoever.

"So, what the hell are we supposed to do, kill them?" Dean asked, shaking his head. "How do you kill douchebag vampires in this show anyway?"

"Beheading, stake in the heart, fire, sunlight for some of them, but that's besides the point, Dean," he replied looking confused. "How the hell did we get here and how the hell do we get back?"

Dean pondered a thought for a moment, before wagging his finger. "Wait. Why do you think this Vella woman invited us to the bar this afternoon?"

"I don't know, why?"

"Did it seem like she knew you? What did she say?"

Sam stood pensively for a moment. "Uh, she asked if she'd met me before, said I seemed familiar. Then she asked if I was from out of town."

"That's weird, but it doesn't necessarily mean anything, Sam. Maybe they frequent that bar a lot."

"Yeah," he said absentmindedly. "Her husband does in the show." Dean glanced at him teasingly. "Shut up, Dean. Even if it's true, I have no idea who that woman is and why she's here."

"There's only one way to find out," he said wide eyed. "We go and meet her. It's the only way."

"You're crazy, Dean."

"Maybe, but what other options do we have? Besides, like I said earlier, it's a public place. What's the worst that could happen?" he asked confidently.

Sam laughed. "To us, Dean?"

"It's our best shot of finding out what's going on here."

"Yeah, you're probably right. First things first," he replied, looking at his brother with determination. "I have to teach you a few things about the vampires...and other things in this world, or whatever."

Vella woke up early the next morning, even though she had no desire to. She hadn't slept very well, her dreams had been haunted by strange images and voices she didn't understand, making her sleep completely restless.

She sighed loudly as she glanced beside her, noticing Damon wasn't in the bed with her. She felt a pang of guilt, knowing she'd probably kept him awake with her tossing and turning. She was about to get out of bed, when Damon appeared in the doorway, holding on to a cup of coffee.

"I thought you'd need this," he said, handing the cup to her, before gently sitting on the edge of the bed.

She took the cup from him, smiling brightly. "You know you're the best."

"Yeah, I know," he said with a teasing grin. "And you're so lucky to have me."

She shook her head lightly, rolling her eyes with a grin. "I see you're in a good mood, despite the lack of sleep."

He turned to gaze at her, looking serious. "Are you okay?"

She sighed deeply. "I'm not sure. I had the strangest dreams, but nothing I could grasp."

"What do you mean?" he asked with concern.

"I don't know, Damon. But I am sure of one thing. It has something to do with the Winchesters."

"You mean those guys from the TV show?"

"Yeah, those guys," she replied, biting her lip in frustration.

"Hey, we'll figure out what's going on. Just drink your coffee, then we'll have breakfast."

She smiled at him thankfully, taking a sip of the coffee. She was much more worried than she was letting on. Even without the strange dreams, something really crazy was going on and she didn't even have a clue what it could be. The sinking feeling in her gut told her it was bad, and she didn't want Damon to worry. For the time being, she decided it would be best to keep any speculations to herself, at least until she had a clue what was going on.

She drank a bit more of her coffee, before she climbed out of bed. She smiled at Damon lovingly, as he took the half empty cup from her, disappearing downstairs, leaving her to shower and get dressed in peace, which for once she was happy about. Sooner or later she knew he would figure out she was keeping her worry to herself, but for now, he didn't need to know.

A she walked into the kitchen, Damon threw her phone at her, which she hadn't been expecting, but with her reflexes, she managed to catch it, even if it was awkwardly. She looked at him questioningly. "What the hell?"

"You forgot your phone down here last night," he said with a wink. "It's been ringing incessantly for the past few minutes."

She glanced at her phone to see who had been calling. "It's Bonnie," he said, before she could find out for herself. It definitely wasn't the answer she was hoping for. She dialed her number, trying to ignore the ominous feeling running through her.

"Vella? Is everything okay?"

"Why do you ask, Bonnie?" she said, trying to sound calm.

"I had the strangest dream last night and when I woke up this morning, I felt like something, I don't know, like something is wrong, out of place," Bonnie replied worriedly.

"I know, Bonnie, I had a similar dream. Why don't we talk about it later? I'll call you."

"Sure," she replied hesitantly. "Talk to you later."

They said their goodbyes, then Vella disconnected the call. She stood still for a moment staring at her phone, thinking. She knew now that whatever was going on was big, and she was worried.

"What is it?" Damon asked, walking over to her, wrapping his arm around her waist.

She gazed into his worried eyes, wanting to lie to him, but she couldn't, not this time. "Bonnie had a weird dream too. Something really bad is going on, Damon. I can feel it."

He wrapped his other arm around her, pulling her close. "We'll figure it out, love," he said as he kissed her gently on the forehead. She snuggled into his arms, breathing deeply. His embrace always comforted her, reassured her, made her feel much more calm than she felt.

After another cup of coffee, while seated at the kitchen table reading the newspaper, Damon poured Vella a glassful of blood, which she drained quickly. He poured her another glass, which she drank much more slowly. She smiled brightly at Damon when she was finished. "I could really get used to being taken care of like this."

"Then who would take care of me?" he joked with a grin.

She took his hand, squeezing it tightly. "You know how much I enjoy taking care of you." She paused a moment, grinning teasingly. "And if I didn't, you'd always be in some kind of trouble."

"You don't know the half of it," he replied with a grin, before he pulled her off her seat and on to his lap, kissing her passionately.

She stroked his face lightly, smiling. "I love you, Damon."

"And I love you, Vella," he replied, brushing his hands through her hair gently. He knew how much it helped to calm her down, and she needed it more than she was letting on.

After breakfast, Damon and Vella sat on the livingroom couch and talked. Vella did her best to explain the world of Supernatural to Damon, and he tried his best not to tease, joke, or just generally not take things seriously. But after awhile, she couldn't deal with his eye rolls or teasing grins, so she decided to give up, sort of.

"Are you coming with me to The Grill this afternoon?"

"Of course. Why would you ask?" he replied with surprise.

"Well, for one thing, you aren't taking this very seriously."

He took her hand, gazing into her eyes. "I'm sorry, Vella. I know you want me to take this seriously, but it seems so preposterous."

She frowned, shaking her head in disappointment. "After everything we've been through you still don't trust my instincts."

"Hey," he said while squeezing her hand. "I trust you completely, but we're talking about TV show characters here. Can't you see where I would find this all too much?"

"I do, Damon, and I feel very much the same way, but the only difference is, I'm a witch and you're not. What I felt when I touched that man was not natural."

"Yeah, I'm sure," he replied, looking sour.

"Oh my god!" she said, grinning wildly. "You're jealous, aren't you?"

"What? Jealous? Me?" he protested. "I am no such thing."

"Yes, you are," she teased. "I know that look."

He looked very unimpressed as he took his hand from hers. "I am not."

"Oh come on," she said with a grin. "Shouldn't everyone have a fling with a TV character at least once in their lives?"

"You think you're funny, don't you?" he asked, feigning sarcasm.

"You're just so cute," she said mockingly. "But very transparent." He rolled his eyes heavily. "But I betcha you don't know which of those guys I had the crush on," she teased while grinning widely. "I'm just gonna let you keep on guessing."

He sighed loudly. "I'm glad you're having so much fun with all of this."

"And I'm just getting started."

He looked at her angrily for a moment, baring his fangs, but all she did was laugh at him. He was going to give up, but he didn't like to give up so easily. He grabbed her roughly, pinning her against the couch by her arms, bringing his fangs near her neck. He could feel her hearbeat quicken and hear her breathing speed up as he gently brushed her neck with his lips. He ran them up her jawline and near her lips, then suddenly pulled away, grinning.

She pushed him backwards in frustration, he nearly fell off the couch as she did so, glancing at him with disbelief. "You are such a tease, Mr. Salvatore."

"Yeah," he replied flashing a million dollar smile. "But who's the better tease?"

She smiled. "Fine, you win. But I'm still not telling you." He watched her stand up, her hands on her hips, looking at him as if she was waiting for something, but he didn't move. "Are you coming or what?" she finally asked with impatience.

"Where?"

"Before we head to The Grill, I want to have a look around town, see if I can sense anything unusual."

"You mean something more unusual than TV characters?" he asked sarcastically.

"Let's just go," she said impatiently as she ran out of the house.

Damon sighed, glancing at the spot Vella had vacated only seconds before. "Never a dull moment," he complained quietly, following his wife out of the house.

**A/N: Well, it was a struggle but I finally managed to complete this chapter. The first half was easy, it was the second and I'm not sure why. I will do my best to update again as soon as I can. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 ~ A Hunter And A Vampire Walk Into A Bar...

Dean pulled his Impala into the parking lot at The Grill shortly after noon. After turning it off, he sat in his seat for a moment, shaking his head in disbelief. He still couldn't believe what was going on, or, he could but he didn't want to. He was still sitting in his seat pondering everything, while Sam had already vacated the vehicle and was standing against it impatiently.

"I'm coming," he called out to his brother who'd been sighing loudly with impatience, as he stepped out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

"Are you sure you still want to go ahead with this?" Sam asked.

"Of course I am, Sammy," he replied nonchalantly. "I'm not afraid of some douchebag vampires from some TV show."

Sam shook his head in response and began walking into The Grill. He wasn't sure if his brother was being stupid, brave, or just underestimating the situation, but the whole situation made him feel very uneasy.

Once inside, the brothers chose an empty booth in the middle of the room to sit down at. They sat across from each other, each with a different expression on their face. Dean was looking confident, self-assured and pleased with himself. However, Sam looked nervous, worried and irritable.

After ordering themselves a drink while they waited, they began going through theories on how they may have ended up where they were. The Trickster was, of course, at the top of their list, followed by demons, angels, witches and any other supernatural being they could think of that would have a grudge against them, or wanted them out of the way. The problem was, they had no idea who or how, so making it back home was looking more and more of an impossibility.

The brothers had been sitting in the booth for more than half an hour, before Dean decided to order something to eat.

"Hey, I'm hungry. Plus, she said she'd pay," he said with a grin, answering the look on Sam's face. He rolled his eyes in response.

It was another ten minutes before Vella and Damon walked into the restaurant, heading straight for the booth the Winchesters were sitting at. Vella seemed to hesitate as they reached the table, grinning at her husband teasingly.

"Pick a seat, Damon," she said with a wide grin.

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, clearly not amused by her teasing. "Ladies, first."

She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and laughed. "You're not going to let this go are you?"

He continued to glare at her unamused.

"Oh my god, you watched it, didn't you?" she asked with a laugh.

"Are you through teasing me?"

She grinned, giving him a teasing look, before sitting beside Dean. Leaving Damon to sit beside Sam. He looked at her with displeasure.

The brothers passed each other a look of confusion and curiosity, but said nothing to each other.

Matt Donovan walked up to the table seconds after they'd been seated, carrying fries and a burger, placing it in front of Dean.

"Hey, Vella, Damon," he said with a smile. "Can I getcha anything?"

"Hey, Matt," she answered with a smile. "I'll take a plate of nachos with extra cheese and a cola. Anyone else want anything?" she asked, looking at Sam. "A salad perhaps?"

Sam narrowed his eyes slightly in surprise and suspicion.

"I'm buying," she said before he could refuse.

"Yeah, sure," he replied.

"I would like a bourbon, neat," Damon said demandingly.

"Damon," Vella said, "It's only noon."

"It's five o'clock somewhere," he replied irritably.

She glared at him for a moment, before turning back to Matt with a smile. "Make sure everything is on my tab, Matt. Even his food and drink," she said looking at Dean.

Matt nodded, leaving promptly.

"So, this is your brother, huh? Nice to meet you," she said, nodding at Dean. "I'm Vella and this is my husband, Damon," she said, pointing to him.

"Nice to meet you, Vella," Dean said with a sly smile, then nodded at Damon. "I'm Dean."

Damon glared at him, before giving a stern look to his wife. She laughed as he did.

"So, how do the two of you like our little town so far?" Vella asked, looking from one brother to the other.

"I've got no complaints after last night," Dean replied with a sly grin.

Sam shook his head at his brothers response. "It has a very interesting background."

"How so?" she asked.

"A lot of animal attacks and missing people around here."

Dean choked on his food, looking at his brother harshly.

"Yes, that's unfortunate," she replied, not missing a beat. "It's been pretty quiet around here for awhile though."

Matt returned, placing the food on the table, then left again as quickly as he'd came.

"So what was causing the attacks? Did they ever find out?"

Vella opened her mouth to answer, but Damon stopped her. "Can I talk to you privately for a moment, _dear_?"

"Excuse me," she said to the brothers, glaring at her husband. "I'll be right back."

Damon tromped off to the back of the room, his wife following behind.

"Sam," Dean said in a hushed tone. "Why didn't you tell me she was so hot?"

"Are you being serious right now, Dean?

"Come on, it's true."

"That's besides the point."

"What is the point, Sam? You're being pretty obvious, don't you think?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know, but you might as well just ask them if they're vampires and get it over with."

"Dean, I'm just trying to figure out what's going on. Unless you have a better idea?"

"Uh, no, that's your department."

"Ha, ha," he laughed sarcastically.

Vella walked back to the table, sitting down at the booth, looking frustrated. She waited until Damon found his way back before saying anything.

"I apologize for our rudeness, boys. My husband is a little touchy today."

Damon eyed her with irritation, taking his drink and downing it in one swallow, slamming the glass on the table. "I don't appreciate when men so obviously ogle my woman."

"That's enough, Damon!" she said sternly. "Go sit at the bar or leave."

He stared at her angrily for a moment, then stood up. He glanced warningly at the Winchesters, before walking over to the bar.

"I am so sorry about that," she said. "He's not normally like this, not with me."

Sam gave his brother a warning look, before looking at her awkwardly. "Uh, it's okay."

"No, no it isn't," she replied. "But you're sweet for saying that." She picked up her drink, and was about to take a sip, but then she set it down, looking angry. "Well, I guess I wasn't giving you boys enough credit."

"What the hell!" Dean said, struggling to move in his seat. He looked at Sam, who appeared to be doing the same.

"I should have known you boys would figure out what I was, hence the vervain in my drink," she said picking it up for emphasis. "The only thing is, I'm also a witch, and neither of you are going anywhere."

"Sam," his brother called out, glaring at him with frustration.

"I didn't know, Dean," he apologized.

"Go ahead and make a scene," she said grinning. "No one will hear anything. I assure you."

"What do you want?" Dean growled.

"Actually, we both want the same thing."

"Somehow I doubt that."

She eyed him curiously for a moment, fighting back the urge to laugh. This wasn't exactly how she'd wanted this talk to go, but she wasn't at all surprised. "You want to go back where you came from and I want to send you back there."

"And why should we believe you?"

She pondered the question for a moment, thinking carefully. She wanted to phrase what she had to say just right, so neither of the brothers would have any doubt that she wanted to help. "You don't belong here in this world, Dean. I don't know how you got here, but it's not natural."

"And being a witch is?" Sam asked.

She laughed once. "Look, there is so much to explain, but I can't do it here, for obvious reasons. I know you don't trust me, and you have no reason to, but I want to know who sent you here as much as you do."

The brothers passed a look between them, before they came to a decision.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Dean asked.

She looked at him for a moment, before releasing her magical grip on both Dean and Sam. "If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't have brought you here." She paused for a moment, thinking. "I could kill both of you without breaking a sweat, with either magic, or my other special talents. But that's not what I want."

"And why should we even believe you?"

"Because you have no other choice," she stated bluntly. "Do you know who sent you here?"

"No," Dean replied.

"Either do I. But what I do know is, you're not supposed to be here. If you work with me, we can figure out who sent you here and how to send you back."

"And why would you help us?" he asked suspiciously.

"I have a litany of reasons, but mainly, I want to protect my world."

"Protect it from what?" Sam asked curiously.

"Honestly, I have no idea yet. I don't even know if it's from my world or yours. But I _definitely_ don't ever want to see another demon again."

Sam looked at her strangely, before glancing at his brother, a knowing look on his face.

"I'll make you a deal, boys," she said, grabbing a pen. "You take all the time you need to make a decision, and I'll wait for you," she said scribbling down her address on a napkin, handing it to Dean. "You can find me there. Feel free to bring weapons if you must, but please don't take long to make up your minds. Who knows how long it's gonna be before the shit hits the fan."

Dean and Sam passed each other a look, before Dean laughed once. "I kinda like her."

Sam sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Stay here and eat and drink all you want, I'll make sure the bill is paid for you," she said as she stood up. "I hope I'll be seeing you two later," she said with a smile and a wink, leaving towards the bar.

Damon turned as he heard his wife approach the bar, looking sour. "That wasn't very productive."

"Actually it was," she said with a smile, sitting down beside him. "You're just upset with me."

"And why would I be upset with you?"

"Can it, Damon," she snapped. "You never get this upset when I need you to do something. What's going on with you?"

"You were right. I'm jealous."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Do you really think I'm going to buy that? I know you better than you think."

"If that's true, than you should know what's bothering me."

She looked at him pleadingly. "We never fight, Damon. Not like this."

Damon stood up, looking irritable. "I'll see you at home," he said, leaving quickly.

Vella looked down, fighting off tears. She had no idea why Damon was upset with her, it was well beyond jealousy, she knew that for sure. She only wish she knew what it was. She glanced over at the table the Winchesters were still sitting at, they turned away immediately, she knew they'd been watching, but she wanted them to know she had seen them.

After settling her tab, Vella left the restaurant.

"What the hell is going on here?" Sam asked.

"I'm not sure," Dean replied.

"Do you think we can trust her?"

He pondered the question for a moment, before answering. "You may think I'm crazy, but I think we can."

"Really?" he asked in surprise. "Because we've had so much luck trusting demons and angels and, well, just about everyone?"

"Hey, you're the one who's watched this show."

"Yeah, and I already told you she wasn't in it."

"We don't have much of a choice, Sam," he said, taking a drink. "Plus, she did say we could bring weapons."

"Maybe to lull us into a false sense of security," he replied shrugging slightly. "How was it she knew we put that vervain stuff into her drink?"

"Lucky guess?"

"Or, maybe you're not as good as you think you are?"

"No, I'm much better than that, Sam," he said grinning.

"Whatever," he replied, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Can we just go back to our motel room now? I'd rather talk about all of this in private."

"Sure," he replied, stuffing a few fries into his mouth. "Let's go."

Once the they were in their motel room, Sam and Dean sat on the couch, both wearing different expressions. Dean looked very impatient, while Sam was looking cautious.

"We're here now, Sam" Dean said. "What couldn't you say at the restaurant?"

"Do you not find that woman's attitude a little strange?" Sam asked. "She seemed to know exactly what to say to get you to all but follow her home."

"What are you asking? Do you think she reads minds or something?"

"Or something is right," he replied shaking his head. "She did say she was a witch."

"And you're the one who should know what that means in this place, shouldn't you?"

"Come on, Dean. I watched a couple of episodes, I'm not an expert."

"Well, I don't see any other choice than to find out how she intends on helping us, or at the very least, find out what she knows."

"And I think you're wrong, Dean. We could be walking right into a trap."

He looked at his brother with frustration. "What other choice do we have? We have no idea who sent us here or how the hell to get back."

"So we should just hand ourselves over to some vampires and hope for the best?"

"No, Sam. But these aren't like real vampires. They're douchbag vampires, with all the angst and self-loathing, right?" he said with a grin. "They're not going to just eat us."

"And you're sure about this?"

"No, I'm not sure, Sam," he replied. "But, she did say we could bring weapons."

"I guess we have done crazier."

"That's an understatement," he said with a wild eyed grin. "Makes me feel alive."

"Now I know you've lost your mind, Dean," he said with a smile. "But I'm right there with ya."

He patted his brother on the back, grinning slightly. "I know you are, Sammy."

Vella walked into the boarding house, heading straight into the livingroom. She found Damon sitting on one of the chairs, having a drink, just as she'd expected. She stood in the doorway for a moment, before closing the gap between her and her husband almost instantly, grabbing the drink from his hand.

"Vella. What are you doing?" he asked with very little emotion.

"Dammit, Damon!" she cursed. "What the hell is going on with you?"

He stood up, looking her straight in the eye. "You should already know what's going on." She looked expectationally. "How many times do you have to stick your neck out to save every Tom, Dick and Harry that gets into some kind of trouble?"

"So that's your problem," she said placing the drink on the table. "You're worried about me."

He shifted his gaze for a moment, before returning to her eyes. He looked at her lovingly, stroking her face gently. "Yes, I'm worried about you."

"So you thought you'd have a hissy fit and act like a dick because you're worried?"

"Vella..."

"Don't Vella me," she said angrily, moving her hands to her hips. "You promised to stop treating me like a child."

Damon frowned. "I'm sorry, Vella," he said, stepping closer to her. "How many times do I have to almost lose you before you understand?" He reached out, grasping the sides of her face, kissing her desperately. "I can't lose you, not again."

She loosened his grip, taking his hands into hers. "You promised you would trust my judgement, remember?" He nodded. "I have to help the Winchesters get back home. If I don't, I'm not sure what will happen, but I know it will be bad."

"Then I'm going to make sure you don't do it alone."

She smiled lightly, before wrapping her arms around him, resting her head against his chest. "I love you, Damon."

He squeezed her tightly, kissing the top of her head gently. "I love you, too."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 ~ And Then They Walked Into The Vampire's Nest

Vella was sitting on the couch with Stefan, speaking to him about the Winchesters, when Damon walked into the room. He had to fight off the urge to rip his brother's throat out, which he always felt when he saw the two of them together, but he'd promised his wife to behave.

He headed over to the liquor, pouring himself a drink, then sat down on a chair not far from them. He was listening as she explained what had been going on, but he wasn't really paying attention. His thoughts were turned inward, thinking about times he'd almost lost his wife. It wasn't just the life and death times, but the times he'd almost lost her because of his jealousy. Even if it had been justified.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the doorbell ring, snapping him back to the here and now. He knew who was at the door, so he glanced over at his wife, who shot him a warning look as he stood up. He returned the look with a raised eyebrow and a grin. The sarcasm in his look let her know he was going to behave himself.

He hesitated at the door for a moment, then opened it with a swift motion, smiling fakely. "Welcome to _my_ house," he said to Dean and Sam. "Please come in."

The brothers traded an apprehensive look, then walked in the house. They glanced around the hallway as Damon closed the door, then followed him into the livingroom. They looked around in astonishment at the size of the room, which wasn't only large, but also had high ceilings. The elaborate furnishings seemed to fit the room.

They walked over to the couch, where Vella was still talking to Stefan. He stood up and moved to one of the numerous chairs in the room as the brothers approached.

"This is my brother in law, Stefan," Vella said to the brothers, who in turn each shook his hand. "Sit, sit."

The Winchesters traded a look of unease as they sat down on the couch. Dean was on one side, Sam beside him, who was sitting beside Vella. They both noticed a look of venom coming from Damon, who had sat down on a chair beside his brother.

"You got us here," Dean said impatiently. "What do you want?"

Sam shot him a dirty look, but Vella only smiled.

"What I'm going to tell you–and show you–is going to seem very strange," she began. "But, since you're in the business of strange, maybe it won't seem quite that bizarre to you."

"Just get on with it," he replied with even more impatience.

Damon stood up, looking at Dean menacingly. "Don't you dare talk to my wife like that!"

Dean stood up, returning his look just as menacingly. "Why? What are you gonna do about it, blood sucker? Eat me?"

Vella sighed loudly with impatience, as she cast a spell. Both Dean and Damon had advanced on each other and looked like they were going to kill each other. So she did what she had to do. Forced them to sit in their seats and not move.

"Once both of you can act like adults again, I'll release the spell on you," she said with irritation.

Dean and Damon glared at each other a few moments longer, before they looked at her pleadingly.

She snorted with laughter. "Both of you may be able to use your cute and innocent looks against other ladies to get away with something, but it isn't gonna work with me." She smiled as she turned to Damon. "Especially _you_, Mr. Salvatore. I know all of your tricks."

"Yeah, yeah," he replied while rolling his eyes.

She looked at Sam, who seemed to be much more reasonable than his brother at the moment, and perhaps more open minded. "Please understand that I don't really know any more about this than the both of you do. All I have is a strange feeling and my intuition."

He nodded in response, but said nothing.

She stood up from the couch and walked over to the TV. She rustled around on the shelf that was underneath the TV, before pulling out a DVD. She turned everything on, then popped the disc into the player and waited for it to load.

While she was waiting, she released her magical grip on Damon and Dean, but shot them a warning look. The looks that were returned varied, but they both seemed to understand the meaning of her gaze.

She hit play on the remote when the menu came up, then skipped the first chapter, since it was only a reminder of what had happened previously on the show. It ran for ten minutes with only the sounds of the show, uneasy shuffling and breathing, before someone broke the silence.

"What the hell?" Dean said. "We're a TV show?"

"Yeah, and a terrible one at that," Damon replied.

Both brothers–and his wife–shot him an angry look.

"Not helping, Damon," she replied with narrowed eyes.

He noticed the warning in her look and shut up.

"Look, I know this seems completely insane, but–" she stopped, unsure what to say next.

"Uh, if I could say something," Sam said looking uncomfortably. "But, this isn't insane. In fact, wherever we come from...you're from a TV show."

"What?" she replied with surprise.

"Well, not you," he replied quickly. "But Damon and Stefan are."

"Not me?" she asked in surprise. "How's that possible?"

"You've got to be kidding," Damon said standing up in protest. "Do you really believe what these idiots are saying?"

Sam shot him an irritated look. "Then how do I know that there's a girl named Elena who's in love with Stefan, a witch named Bonnie, a werewolf named Tyler. Shall I go on?"

Dean looked at his brother with disappointment. "Dude, seriously? I thought you said you only watched it a couple of times?"

He looked at his brother with irritation. "Two words for you Dean; Dr. Sexy."

He was about to retort, but he backed down instead. He knew his brother was right.

Vella uttered a laugh that she had to stifle by raising her hand to her mouth. "Sorry."

There was an awkward silence for a moment, before it was interrupted.

"We can't deny he seems to know all of us," Stefan said, looking in Sam's direction.

"Since when are you an idiot, Stefan?" his brother asked. "They could have researched this."

"You mean everyone in town knows about vampires, werewolves and witches?" Dean asked sarcastically. "And they're not all running for the hills?"

"Enough!" Vella said loudly. "This isn't gonna get us anywhere." She turned to Damon, gazing at him pleadingly. "Please sit down and listen."

He stood defiantly for a few moments before sitting down in protest.

"We have bigger problems to worry about than each other's egos and why I'm not in some TV show with the rest of you," she said mostly to Damon. "Like how the hell we're gonna send them back where they belong."

"And who sent us here," Sam replied.

She looked at him pensively, quietly comtemplating. "I think I have an idea of who might've sent you here."

"You do?" Sam and Dean asked simulateneously.

She smiled. "I love when you do that," she said, feeling foolish for acting like a fan.

Damon glared at her, bringing her back to reality.

"You're not gonna like my answer," she said directly to Dean. "In fact, I hope I'm not right."

"How could you possibly know how I'm going to feel?" he replied.

She turned around, beginning to take the DVD out of the player and put it away, while everyone in the room waited expectantly.

"Vella?" Damon called softly to her.

She continued to put stuff away, ignoring everyone.

"Vella!" he called again loudly.

She turned around gazing at him uncomfortably, like she didn't want to speak. "What?"

"Uh, your guests are waiting for an answer," he said approaching her slowly. He could tell something was bothering her.

She glanced at him uneasily, speaking so only vampire ears could pick up what she wanted to say. "I doubt they'll even believe me. I'm not even sure if I'm right."

"So? Why do you care if they don't like the answer?" he asked just as quietly.

"It's not that, Damon," she said looking grimly. "I'm not sure I can do anything to help them if I'm right. And if they don't cooperate, it's gonna make it that much harder."

"I'll make them cooperate."

She snorted, then smiled, reaching her hand to his face. "Thank you," she said then patted his face gently.

He took her hand, squeezing it in support.

She turned back to the rest of the room, still looking grimly, but not quite as grimly as she had been previously. "I'm sorry. A moment of weakness," she explained.

Damon glared at Dean and Sam, daring them to say anything, but neither did.

"I'm pretty sure it only happened recently, so hopefully you'll both know what I'm talking about," she said cryptically. The brothers glanced at each other uneasily.

"Do you remember when Balthazar sent you into an alternate dimension?" she asked

The brothers gazed at each other uneasily again, then turned their attention towards her.

Dean said. "I would ask how you know about that but–"  
>"The show, yes," she replied quickly.<p>

"You think Balthazar did this?" Sam asked.

"No. I don't think it was him this time," she replied. "And before you guess Raphael or Crowley, I'm pretty sure it was neither of them."

The brothers looked at each other with a strange mix of shock and surprise. Her knowledge about their life made them slightly uncomfortable.

"Then who do you think it is?" Sam asked.

She glanced at them warningly. "I hope you're ready for the answer."

She stopped for a moment, studying the brothers reactions. She knew Dean was going to have a difficult time with the answer. She wouldn't even be surprised if he would try to kill her for saying it.

"I'm pretty sure it was...Castiel."

"What?" Dean exclaimed, standing up. "You're insane! Why would you say something that?"

"You're blinded by him, Dean," she replied. "You can't see what he's been up to because you're blinded by your friendship and loyalty to him. Because you think of him as family."

"How the hell do you know how I feel, bitch?"

The instant 'bitch' was uttered from Dean's mouth, the room exploded with volatile activity. Damon dashed at Dean, while Sam tried pulling him out of the way. Stefan was trying to intercept Damon before he reached Dean, who had pulled out a wooden stake and was attempting to thrust it into Damon's heart.

Vella had been so taken aback by the confusion, she reacted slower than she normally would have. She was unable to stop Damon's momentum fast enough and he slammed into Dean, who flew backwards, landing on his brother, while Stefan had pulled Damon far enough out of the way, he slammed onto the ground beside the Winchesters, instead of on top of them.

Vella stood aghast as she smelled the unmistakeable scent of blood in the air, and she knew it was human. She could see by the look on Damon and Stefan's face, they smelled it too. She ran over to Dean, gently pulling him to his feet, glancing over him quickly. He was okay, but he had blood on his shirt. She glanced down, and noticed the stake Dean had been holding had impaled Sam in the thigh, dangerously close to his groin.

"Back off!" she shrieked at everyone, as she squatted down beside Sam. "It's gonna be okay," she said reassuringly.

He was groaning in pain, one hand was holding the stake, while the other was on his head. She noticed then he also had a gash on his head from hitting the corner of one of the end tables.

"Get away from him!" Dean yelled irately.

"It's okay," Sam grunted. He smiled at Vella confidently.

She smiled at him supportively as she took a hold of the stake and yanked it out quickly. He screamed out in pain as it was pulled out, blood squirting out of it from the force.

A sudden strange feeling overcame her, making her glance towards Stefan. His face had began to change an ashen color, with bulging veins. "Get him out of here, Damon!" she yelled much too late. Stefan had already begun to run in their direction. She used a burst of magic to stop him in his tracks long enough for Damon to grab a tight hold of him.

"Take him out of here, Damon. Now!"

"I'm not leaving you here alone with these killers," he said firmly.

"I'll be fine. Just do it."

He grabbed his brother roughly, struggling to pull him out of the room.

Once they left the room, she glanced at Dean warningly. "If you want your brother to be okay, stand back and shut up—or get the hell out."

He glared at her, narrowing his eyes, but kept silent.

Vella smiled at Sam supportively, then placed her hand near his leg wound. She began to chant quietly, drawing in mystical energy from around her. It only took about thirty seconds, but his wounds began to heal in front of their eyes.

"How are you feeling?" she asked him after the wounds had closed.

Sam smiled up at her, hesitantly at first, until he moved his leg and found he was pain free. "All better."

"And your head?"

"Perfect."

"Good," she replied with a friendly smile. Much friendlier than she had intended to. She reached her hand out, helping him up from the floor.

Sam turned his attention to his brother, about to say something, when he noticed Vella stumble at the corner of his eye. He reached out, catching her before she fell. Easing her gently onto the couch.

"You okay?" he asked with concern.

"Why are you worried about her?" Dean asked flippantly.

His brother glared at him. "Shut up, Dean."

Dean looked insulted, but didn't speak.

"I'm okay," Vella uttered quietly a few moments later, opening her eyes. "It's nothing."

"How was that nothing?" Sam asked. "You nearly passed out."

She smiled gently. "It's sweet that you're concerned but I'm fine."

He glanced at his brother, but he didn't seem worried.

She tried to get up from the couch, but nearly fell backwards in the attempt. She braced the couch with her hands, sighing in annoyance.

"What's wrong with you?" Dean asked harshly.

Her first instinct was to tell him off, but as she glanced at him, she found she couldn't. She couldn't blame him for thinking of her as a monster. In his world, vampires _were_ monsters.

"I've used too much magic today," she replied quietly. "First searching for an answer to why you were here. Then to keep you and Damon from killing each other. And now to help Sam."

"Oh," was all he said.

"Is there something we can do?" Sam asked.

She laughed lightly. "I need food. So, unless you're offering..."

He looked uncomfortable, but stuck his wrist out reluctantly, making her laugh.

"It's okay, Sam," she said with a grin. "I'll wait until Damon gets back. He'll take care of me."

"If you're okay to talk," Dean said, trying to change the subject. He was feeling extremely uncomfortable by the thought of her drinking blood. "I'd like to know why you think Castiel sent us here."

"Dean!"

"No, Sam. It's okay," she assured him. "Look. I'm not sure what I can say to you about what's going on."

"I don't understand."

She sighed loudly in frustration. "I stayed up late last night catching up on your recent exploits online," she replied with an ironic laugh. "It seems that your friend Castiel is working with Crowley."

"Why the hell would he do that?" he asked, glancing at his brother in disbelief. "Cass wouldn't work with scum like him."

She snorted. "You can believe what you want, Dean, I could really care less. But in the end, you're here and we have to get you back."

He nodded his head in agreement. "We can definitely agree on that."

She closed her eyes for a moment, laying her head back on the couch. "I'm glad we can finally agree about something."

"You sure you're okay?" Sam asked her, laying a supportive hand on her arm.

She opened her eyes and smiled at him, at the same moment as Damon walked back into the room. He stood at the doorway to the livingroom to watch what was going on.

"I told you, Sam," she said nudging his hand off of her arm. "Damon will take care of me."

"And here I am," Damon said as he walked up to her side. He tried to keep the anger and jealousy out of his voice. "What's wrong?"

She glanced at him wearily. "Can you get me something to eat?"

He looked at her questioningly, before leaving through the livingroom into the kitchen.

"Don't tell him I almost passed out," she whispered to the brothers. "Otherwise he's gonna be even more adamant that I don't help you."

"Then why are you helping us?" Dean asked suspiciously.

"You don't belong here," she replied. "You're upsetting the balance of nature. I have to set things right."

He looked at her strangely as if he didn't understand.

Damon walked in, carrying a glass full of blood, handing it to his wife. He was completely amused by the looks of disgust on the faces of the brothers as she began to drink it. He gave a warning look to Sam, who moved over to the far end of the couch so he could sit beside her.

"Is everything okay, love?" he asked with concern, lying his hand on her knee.

"I'm just drained," she replied. It wasn't a complete lie, but it was only part of the truth. She hated lying to him.

"Maybe it's time for them to leave," he suggested. "You look exhausted."

"Maybe you're right," she said quietly. "But not yet."

He watched her as she stood up, crossing the room. She opened a new bottle of whiskey and poured four glasses. She brought two of them to the brothers, then handed one to Damon, keeping the last for herself.

She was still feeling extremely tired, but she didn't feel like falling off her feet now, so she shared a drink with the guys. She always preferred to drink something other than whiskey, but she could handle drinking it once in awhile.

After she finished her drink, she began rummaging though one of the drawers in the desk. Once she'd found what she'd been looking for, she carried it back to the couch, but changed her mind, sitting down on one of the unoccupied chairs instead.

She sat on the chair looking through the contacts that were on her old cell phone, removing anyone that didn't need to be there and added her new phone number.

"Here," she said handing the phone and it's charger to Dean. "In case you need to contact me or anyone else. Our numbers are all programmed in there."

"Thank you," he said with complete surprise.

"I have a spare laptop I can loan you too," she said to Sam. "But I'm too tired to look for it tonight."

"You mean the one you have in the other room?" Damon asked.

"Yeah, why?"

In an instant Damon had ran out of the room and was back. He handed her the laptop, then sat down again.

She looked at him curiously, then handed the computer to Sam. "No porn," she joked, glancing at Dean, who was trying to look innocent.

"Thank you," Sam said gratefully.

"Well hopefully between all of us we will come up with some solution to get you home," she said. "But for now, I need some rest. I hope you'll stop by in the morning."

"Definitely," Sam said standing up, glancing at his brother knowingly.

"Yeah, it's been fun," Dean said sarcastically.

Vella laid a calming hand on Damon. "Walk them out, please. I'm gonna head upstairs."

He nodded with a smile. "Fine, as long as you wait up for me."

She rolled her eyes but she was smiling at the same time. She walked out of the livingroom without giving him a straight answer.

He smiled as he watched her walking away. But the smile disappeared as he glanced back over at the brothers. He led them out of the house, making sure he locked the door tightly behind them. He was happy to get rid of them, but disappointed he was going to have to deal with them again. If it was up to him, he would just kill them and forget ever meeting them.

Dean and Sam were quiet as they drove back to their motel room, both contemplating different things. Dean was still in denial about Cass. The more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. There was no way he would believe that Cass could make any kind of deal with Crowley.

Sam was a little more open minded about Vella's suggestion than his brother was. He wasn't nearly as close to Cass as Dean was. Although he thought it seemed a little far fetched to believe that an angel could possibly make a deal with the king of hell, he'd seen and heard stranger things. Until it was proven that Vella was wrong, he was going to assume she was right. It was all they had at the moment.

"You wanna tell me what's going on with you, Dean?" Sam asked immediately after the motel room door closed.

"What're you talking about?" he asked defensively.

"I was the one who was hesitant about going to that house and you seemed to be all for it. What changed?"

"You mean other than that douchebag vampire Damon being such a dick?" he replied.

Sam snorted. "You did call his wife a bitch. Not to mention you were giving her _the_ eyes."

"She's a filthy monster, Sam," he said with disgust. "Besides, I'm not the one who likes monster chicks."

He glared at his brother angrily. "That was uncalled for."

"Really? I saw the look she was giving you," he replied coldly. "She's definitely Team Sam."

"She's married, Dean!"

"Yeah, and we don't belong here. So what?"

He snorted, shaking his head in disbelief. "Now I know you've lost your mind."

Dean grinned a sideways grin at his brother. "Living on the edge makes you feel alive. Admit it."

He laughed ironically. "That's not living on the edge, that's pushing me over it."

Dean laughed. "I need a drink. And I'm sure you want to start researching something nerd boy, so I'll leave you to it."

Sam watched as his brother left the room quickly, shaking his head in sheer frustration. He knew Dean was upset about the prospect of Castiel being responsible for their inter-dimensional exile. And while he couldn't blame Dean for being upset. He was able to step back and see it from an outsider's perspective. It was completely possible that it was the truth, whether either of them wanted to believe it or not. The reality was, someone–or something–sent them to this place and they needed to get back. He was much more concerned about the possibility of being stuck in this dimension forever.

**A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to update. I've had writer's block but I think it's almost over. Writing so many characters at one time is slightly daunting for me, so we shall see how it turns out. At least I finally figured out who the big bad might be. For those who watch, this story takes place during season 6 of Supernatural. And since I forgot, what did you think of the title of the last chapter? I thought it was kind of amusing lol.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 ~ Demonic Visitor

When Dean woke up in the morning, he laughed as he noticed his brother nodding off while sitting up on the couch in front of the borrowed laptop. He had slept rather well considering the insane mess they were involved in. But even after a good night's sleep, he refused to believe Castiel could be involved in sending them to wherever they were.

He grinned as he walked up behind his brother slowly, bent down close to his ear, then yelled his name loudly, laughing as Sam jumped in his seat, his arms flailing around, his eyes wide in shock.

"Good morning," he said and laughed.

He glared at his brother angrily. "What was that for?"

"Come on, Sammy," he replied with a grin. "That was hilarious and you know it."

He snorted and shook his head. "I'm glad you think that staying up almost all night trying to figure a way out of this place is somehow hilarious to you, Dean."

"Well, _I_ slept like a baby," he teased with a smile.

"Why don't you do something useful and get some coffee?" he asked.

Dean laughed again as he grabbed the keys to his car and left the room to get coffee.

When he came back to the motel room, Sam was in the shower, so he set his coffee down beside the open laptop. Dean couldn't help but notice the last web page Sam had been looking at; it was lore about angels.

He shook his head in frustration, then sat on the couch to drink his coffee. He hadn't been sitting for longer than a minute when the borrowed cell phone began to ring. When he took the phone out of his pocket, the call display said it was Vella.

"Good morning, Dean," she said cheerily.

"Yeah, good morning," he replied in a much less friendly tone.

"Are you and Sam coming over soon?"

"Why? Did you find something?"

"Well, sort of. I don't wanna discuss it over the phone."

He sighed in irritation. "As soon as Sam is done showering we'll head over."

"Okay. See ya soon."

"Yeah, bye," he replied as he hung up the phone.

He was going to tell his brother to hurry up, but he changed his mind before he even got up from his seat. He wanted to get back home, but he wasn't in a hurry to go to the freak show that the Salvatores called a home. Maybe his brother could deal with them, but he really wished there was another way. He felt like they'd made a deal with the lesser of two evils. At least he hoped they were the lesser.

When Sam was finished in the bathroom, Dean filled him in about the phone call then packed up to leave. His earlier pleasant mood was long forgotten, replaced by an easily irritated and brooding attitude.

"Why do you have to have such a miserable attitude about this?" Sam asked his brother as they were driving to the Salvatore boarding house.

"Why do you have to be such a bitch?" he replied harshly.

"We're not gonna get anywhere if you keep this up."

"And this drive would be much quieter if you'd shut up."

Sam rolled his eyes then glanced out the side window, staying silent the rest of the ride.

When the Impala pulled into the driveway of the boarding house, the brothers noticed there were a few cars there as well. Dean sighed exaggeratedly as he stepped out of the car, looking extremely agitated.

"Why are we here again?" he asked as he turned to his brother, glancing at him over top of the roof of the car.

"Cool it, Dean," he replied shortly.

Dean was looking sulky as he and his brother approached the door. Sam knocked on it, then waited until he thought he heard someone yell for them to enter, before opening the door and walking in, his brother following behind him.

They walked into the livingroom where Vella was sitting on the couch speaking with three younger women. She turned her head to glance at them, waved them over, then continued her conversation with the ladies.

"Hey, Sam," Dean whispered. "Do you see that blonde?"

"Yes, Dean," he replied impatiently.

"She looks kind of familiar. Like I've met her before."

He rolled his eyes, walking towards the ladies. "Good morning, ladies," he said with a cheery smile.

"Good morning, Sam, Dean," she said glancing at both of the brothers. "This is Elena, Caroline and Bonnie," she replied, pointing to each of them as she spoke their names. "This is Sam and Dean Winchester."

"Nice to meet you," Sam said.

"Yeah, very nice to meet you," Dean said with a slightly seductive smile as his eyes fell upon Caroline.

Vella chuckled knowingly at his look. She knew he would be in for a shock when he found out that she too was a vampire.

The ladies each greeted them, then turned to look at Vella expectantly.

"So why did you need us here?" Sam asked.

"Bonnie here is a witch as well," she began to explain. "I was hoping that by having the two of you here, we could figure out a solution between the two of us."

"You mean you decided to waste our time," Dean replied harshly.

"That's awfully rude," Caroline replied irritated.

The other ladies looked just as shocked by his rudeness.

"It's okay, Care," Vella said. "He's not worth the effort."

"You're the one who's the filthy monster," he replied with a steely glare.

Caroline's head snapped around to glare at him, her face beginning to change but she managed to fight it back as she felt Elena lay a supportive hand on her arm.

"I'd be careful what you say around people you don't know," Vella warned. "You never know who's a monster and who isn't—though you seem to be the only one acting like a monster."

"I don't have to listen to this."

"Dean, why don't you just shut up," his brother suggested with frustration.

"It's okay, Sam," Vella said. "You don't have to worry about him. If he wants to be stuck here until he dies then so be it. I don't have to help him."

"As if you'd send Sam home without me."

She narrowed her eyes. "Try me, Dean."

He stared her down for a few moments, before backing down. He stomped over to one of the chairs farther away, sitting down in a huff.

"I apologize for his behavior," Sam said quietly. "I think he's in denial."

"Unless he can forget all the negativity, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get the two of you home," Vella replied tersely.

"I completely understand," he replied.

Elena suddenly stood up from her seat looking apologetic. "It's time for me to go, Vella. I promised Mayor Lockwood I'd help with his latest charity thing."

"Well good luck with that," she replied with a chuckle.

"I have to go with her," Caroline said as she stood up as well.

"And I have some other plans," Bonnie said, standing up.

"I thought we were all supposed to do something today?" Vella asked.

"I can stay a little while longer if you need me," Bonnie replied.

"No, it's okay. I'll be fine," she said glancing quickly at Dean.

The three ladies bid her farewell, then left the boarding house quickly.

Vella was slightly irritated. She knew they'd made excuses to leave, probably because of Dean's behavior. It definitely didn't put her in the mood to stick her neck out for the Winchesters.

Sam sat down on the couch close to her as the ladies left, looking apologetic.

"So, where are Damon and Stefan today?" he asked to make conversation.

She studied him shrewdly for a moment before answering.

"I sent them out of town," she replied. "I needed some plants and other items for a couple of spells and they can't be found around here."

"Why did you ask us here?"

"I was hoping to speak with the both of you without any interference," she replied glancing in Dean's direction again. "But obviously this was a bad time. I'm sorry to have wasted your time."

Dean walked over to the couch, sitting down beside his brother. He was looking slightly apologetic.

"I'm sorry for being such an ass."

His brother looked at him with shock, but Vella just nodded her head in acceptance.

"What I wanted to tell you was, I'm not positive that it was Castiel himself that sent the two of you here. But if I don't figure out who it was, I'll never be able to send you back."

"It could have been Crowley," suggested Dean.

"I've looked into that possibility also," she replied, her brow furrowed.

"What if it wasn't either of them?" Sam asked.

"Who else could it be, Sam?" she asked. "Balthazar?"

"Maybe."

"Do you think he would try something like this twice?"

"Who knows with angels," Dean said with frustration. "They're as bad as demons."

It was quiet for a few moments while Vella pondered some things. The brothers exchanged curious glances while she seemed to be staring off into space.

"Dean. Do you think you can take me to the spot where you crossed over into this dimension?" she asked hopefully.

"I'm sure I could find it again, why?"

"Just a hunch," she replied shortly.

He shrugged his shoulders as his brother looked at him questioningly, then stood up, pulling his car keys from his pocket.

"Let's go then."

Vella stood up, following behind Dean, while Sam followed behind her a few moments later.

As they reached the car, Vella climbed into the backseat with a grin. She'd always wanted to ride in Dean's 'baby" and now she was. She felt silly for feeling like some kind of fan girl whose fantasy had come true.

She noticed Dean's grin in the rearview mirror as he started the car almost as if he had read her mind. She knew that he couldn't, but she knew how he felt about his car.

She was silent as they drove through town, then begun to drive out of town. The brothers spoke a little about trivial things, but she was too immersed in her own thoughts to even pay attention to what they were saying.

Once the car had stopped at their destination, Vella knew they were in the right spot. She would have known this was the spot they had entered this world, despite the car stopping. She could feel the mystical energy that was surrounding this place.

Once Sam had climbed out of the car, she nearly jumped out and began pacing around the area aimlessly, at least that's what it looked like to the brothers.

Sam and Dean watched curiously as she walked around with her eyes closed for several minutes before stopping dead abruptly.

"What do you think she's doing?"

"Like I would have a clue, Sam."

Suddenly, Vella was surrounded by a white light that sent her flying backwards a few feet.

"What the hell was that?" Sam said as he ran towards Vella, who was lying still on the ground. Dean followed behind his brother only seconds later.

Sam squatted down, then carefully lifted her into a sitting position, supporting her with his arm.

"Vella? Are you okay?"

Dean scoffed at his brother's concern, which earned him an icy glare.

She began to moan before her eyes fluttered open. She managed a slight smile as she realized who was holding her, until she realized she was doing it.

"I'm okay, Sam. Thanks," she said as she tried getting to her feet.

She needed some help from Sam, but she managed to get to her feet, even if she felt a little light headed.

"What happened?" he asked, once he was sure she was able to stand on her own.

She glanced down at her wrist, which had a cut that was healing, then glanced back at the Winchesters.

"It was a remnant of the power that sent you here," she replied matter-of-factly.

The brothers looked confused waiting for her to elaborate, but when she didn't, Dean became impatient.

"What exactly does that mean?"

She looked as if she hadn't understood the question for a moment.

"Can you take me home, please?"

Dean was about to say something, but one look from his brother made him change his mind. He jumped into the car, waiting for Sam to help her into the back seat, then drove back to the boarding house.

No one spoke during the trip, or as they followed Vella into the house, but Dean could only contain his curiosity for so long before he had to say something.

"Are you gonna explain what happened or what?" he asked as he sat down on a chair in the livingroom.

His brother glared at him as he sat down on one end of the couch.

Vella ignored him as she poured herself a drink, then swallowed it in one gulp. Once she set the glass down, she turned to glare at Dean.

"I don't expect you to give a damn about me, Dean," she said with frustration. "But could you learn a little patience and perhaps a little sympathy?"

Sam narrowed his eyes at his brother.

"I'm sorry, Vella," Dean said unconvincingly.

She sighed and shook her head, then sat down on the opposite end of the couch from Sam.

"To begin with, _Dean_, I wouldn't know exactly how to explain what happened so you would understand," she said as she closed her eyes. "And secondly, I might be an immortal vampire, but what happened to me still hurts like a son of a bitch."

She opened her eyes, noticing a look of sympathy on Sam's face and a look of shame on Dean's.

"Just do me a favor and don't mention what happened to anyone," she said as she stood up again.

She walked over to a bookshelf on the other side of the room thumbing through some old looking books. After a minute or so, she decided on the one she wanted, pulling it out, then walked back over to the couch and sat down.

The brothers watched quietly as she set the book on the couch between herself and Sam, then closed her eyes, placing her hand a few inches above it. Suddenly, it opened up to a page near the end of the book.

"I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I?" she asked as she picked the book up, scanning through the page it had landed on.

"Why would we be uncomfortable?" Sam asked.

She smiled over top of the book. "Some people are uncomfortable with magic."

"We've seen enough to keep us open minded."

She glanced at Dean, expecting a smart ass remark.

"I'm fine as long as it's not being used on me."

She smiled. "As long as you behave yourself, I won't need to do that—again."

"Yeah, yeah," he replied sheepishly.

"I know it's a little early, but you can help yourselves to a drink. Or, there's still some coffee in the kitchen," she said as she pointed towards the kitchen door.

Sam got up from the couch and went into the kitchen while Vella turned her attention to the book. She was completely engrossed with what she was reading, she almost didn't notice when Dean walked up behind her, trying to see what she was reading.

She sighed with irritation once she noticed him. "Can you read Celtic, Dean?"

He smiled and shook his head. "Of course not, but I'm sure you knew that."

She chuckled. "Yeah, I know. You can barely read latin."

He grinned teasingly. "The question is, can you read Celtic?"

She rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to the book once again.

Dean strolled around the room slowly looking at things, before following his brother into the kitchen.

Sam had already made his coffee, and was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. He was going to sit at the table with his brother after he poured himself a coffee, but he was much more curious about what was going on in the livingroom.

As he walked into the livingroom, he noticed Vella was standing near the corner of the room by the large window. Her back was the only thing he could see, but he could hear her speaking quietly in a language he didn't know. He was afraid to interrupt her, so he stood where he was quietly watching, waiting.

He watched for several moments before his brother walked into the livingroom, stopping behind him.

"What's going on?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"I dunno, Sam, but I don't wanna interrupt."

The brothers watched for a short time after she became silent, watching with interest, even though she was only standing still making gestures with her hands. When she seemed like she was done, Dean cleared his throat to announce his presence.

She turned around smiling strangely. "I knew you were there, Dean."

He wasn't sure why, but he felt strangely uncomfortable with the way she was smiling.

"Sam? Do you have any salt or holy water on you?" he whispered as he turned his head aside, but keeping his eyes on Vella.

"No, why?"

"You boys are much smarter than some of the other demons give you credit for," taunted an unusual voice that was coming from Vella.

Before Dean or Sam could react, they were thrown against the wall, unable to move.

"I love this body," it said with excitement as it walked towards the Winchesters. "It's very powerful."

"What the hell do you want, bitch?" Dean yelled at the demon.

It laughed with amusement. "To finish you off, of course."

Sam glanced at his brother warningly.

"Who sent you?"

It laughed again. "Crowley, of course. Who did you think it was?"

"And why would he want us dead?"

It began howling with laughter for a moment, before composing itself. "He wants you out of the way once and for all. I guess Castiel thought he could protect you by sending you to this place, but he was wrong."

Dean gave his brother an, 'I told you so' look, while Sam returned the look by rolling his eyes.

The demon picked up a sharpened piece of wood from a nearby table, thumbing it with fondness.

"This looks like it could hurt."

"Do something," Dean said to his brother desperately.

He shrugged his shoulders, his eyes wide, unsure of anything that he could do. But then he remembered something his brother had said to him the night before. He only hoped it worked.

"Vella, I know you're in there somewhere," he said as the demon laughed mockingly. "You know you don't want to hurt me or Dean."

The demon stopped laughing suddenly and began glaring at him furiously.

"Shut your mouth!" it screamed.

He tried to say more, but he found he was unable to make a sound.

"Why don't you go back to hell, bitch!" Dean yelled.

The demon in Vella's body was sneering and didn't seem to be amused any longer. It was walking towards the boys very slowly, the wooden stake in it's hand was raised in attack position, but it seemed to be having difficulties.

"Come on, Vella, you can do it," Dean said encouragingly as he watched the demon struggling for control.

It seemed like many minutes, but it was only several moments before the demon managed to wrestle control of the body back from its host.

Vella's eyes turned black as the demon grinned maliciously.

"She's strong, but since I'm not from this world she's gonna have to try a lot harder."

The demon walked even closer, glancing back and forth from one brother to the other, before throwing the wooden stake aside, grinning malevolently.

"Since this one is a vampire, I guess I'll kill you in a much more pleasurable way."

The brothers glanced uneasily at each other as she looked them up and down once more, then lunged for Sam.

"Sam!"

The demon sunk Vella's fangs into the soft flesh on Sam's neck while he tried his best to struggle against her soundlessly.

In seconds, the room became a mass of confusion. Out of nowhere, Vella seemed to go flying sideways, landing unceremoniously on her back, smashing a small wooden table into pieces during her flight.

Suddenly, Damon was standing in front of the Winchesters, while Stefan was standing between him and Vella.

The demon managed to get back to its feet looking menacingly at Stefan, Sam's blood dripping from its mouth.

"Ah, two more toys to play with," it said with a grin.

It raised it's hand as Stefan was about to move, sending him and his brother flying against the wall with Sam and Dean, all while it laughed with twisted pleasure.

It approached the four men slowly, sneering and laughing, sending chills through all of them, but stopped before it came too close.

"Get the hell out of my wife, demon bitch!" Damon yelled.

It walked closer to Damon grinning in amusement.

"Do you think you're something special, Damon? Just because you're a vampire?"

"Shut the hell up!"

"You know what's fun though? This. Taking over someone's body, listening to their thoughts. It's like reading a gossip magazine...without all of the lies and make believe."

"What's your point?"

It laughed coldly. "Oh come on now, Damon. You must know what's in your wife's head. You know all about her feelings for your brother, right?"

Stefan began to look uncomfortable, while the Winchesters were looking at Damon curiously.

"Like I said, what's your point?"

"You mean it doesn't bother you? She knows better than that."

"Why don't you stop talking and kill me already?" he asked smugly. "I know why. Because she won't let you get away with killing me. So continue to taunt me, you're just wasting your time."

It glared at him furiously, but didn't move.

Dean glanced at Damon with surprise. He was strangely proud of him, although he still believed he was a monster.

"I'll just kill everyone else first," it said after some careful thought.

Damon laughed. "Go ahead and try."

It narrowed its eyes, then walked over to the stake it had discarded earlier.

"I guess for your sake, you better hope you're right," it said as it dashed at Stefan, stake raised.

"Vella! Please, stop!" Damon yelled as loud as he could.

As the demon was about to thrust the stake into Stefan's heart, it stopped abruptly looking frightened.

The men were released from the wall as the demon used all of its effort to fight for control over its vessel, although it was having very little luck.

Stefan grabbed a hold of Sam before he collapsed to the floor, while Damon moved towards his wife.

Dean was worried about his brother, however, he was in survival mode. He wasn't sure if it was going to work, but he began chanting an exorcism in latin.

"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus. Omnis Satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversii. Omnis congregatio et secta diabolica, ergo, draco maledicte ecclesiam tuam. Secura tibi facias libertate servire, te rogamus, audi nos."

Everyone stared in wild-eyed fascination as black smoke came billowing from Vella's mouth, then left the house.

Damon caught his wife before she collapsed to the floor, lifting her into his arms and carefully lying her onto the couch, while Dean ran over to his brother.

"Sammy? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said as he allowed Stefan to help him to his feet. "I've had worse."

He nodded his head, relaxing his shoulders slightly.

"I'm surprised the exorcism worked," he remarked.

Sam snorted. "You and me both."

Stefan stood beside the brothers awkwardly unsure what to do. He knew his brother was upset, and not only because he was worried, but because of the demon speaking about a sore spot between himself and his brother. He was torn between his concern for Vella and need to distance himself from his brother.

Damon made sure his wife was resting comfortably on the couch, before turning his attention to the Winchesters.

"This is all your fault," he said as he approached them. "You did this to her."

Dean stood up straight and narrowed his eyes, but before he could say anything, Sam stepped in.

"Maybe if you spent your time supporting her and less time worrying about other people's motives then you would've been here."

Damon glared daggers at Sam, who was standing his ground, while Dean turned to look at his brother in shock.

"I think the two of you should leave for now," Stefan said calmly walking between his brother and Sam.

He nodded in agreement, shot his brother a knowing look, then walked out of the house without so much as a backwards glance.

Dean watched his brother leave before turning to Stefan.

"I hope she'll be okay," he said then followed his brother out of the house.

Once the Winchesters were gone, Damon headed straight for the liquor cabinet, pouring himself a drink, leaving Stefan feeling awkward once again.

He wanted to comfort Damon, but he was unsure if he should even bother. But as the silence continued and the awkwardness grew, he felt compelled to at least try.

"You know that those demon things lie, don't you, Damon?

He placed the drink in his hand on the table beside him, turning to his brother with an irritated expression.

"We're not discussing this right now."

"When _is _the time to discuss it?"

He shook his head in disbelief, grinning strangely. "Are you seriously pushing me right now? I'm already standing on the edge, Stefan. If you insist on pushing me over, I might just tear your head off, then do the same to those two idiots."

"I'm here, Damon. Tear my head off if it'll make you feel better, but killing Sam and Dean isn't going to help you. And I'm pretty sure Vella wouldn't be very happy either."

"Don't you dare tell me what she would or wouldn't be happy about, Stefan!"

He sighed loudly in exasperation. "I thought we were over this?"

"Yeah, I thought so too," he said as he walked over to the couch.

He picked his wife up gently in his arms and carried her up to their bedroom, leaving Stefan in the livingroom alone.

The brothers were mostly silent on the drive back to their motel room, each with different thoughts running through their mind.

The instant the door to the motel room was closed, Sam looked at his brother expectationally.

"So, why don't you just say it, Dean?"

"Say what?" he asked as he flopped onto the couch, staring at his brother.

"What you've been dying to say to me since we left."

He shrugged his shoulders, grinning.

"Screw you, Dean," he said with frustration then walked into the bathroom.

He grabbed the nearest towel, wet it with warm water from the tap, then began to clean the bite wound on his neck. It wasn't deep, but the demon hadn't exactly been gentle or precise with its attack, so the wound was wider than it might have been.

After cleaning it up, he walked out of the bathroom and nearly ran into his brother.

"How's the neck?"

"It's fine, Dean."

"Then I'm ready to say it," he announced with a grin.

Sam rolled his eyes, crossing his arms.

"I told you so, Sammy. I told you Cas didn't do this to us."

He snorted. "Uh, Dean, Cas did do this to us."

"You're right, but he didn't do it for the reason you thought he did. I knew he wouldn't screw us over."

He shook his head in disbelief. "You still can't believe anything bad about him, can you? You heard what Vella said, that he's been working with Crowley."

"And you heard what the demon said, Sam."

"You and I both know that demons lie, Dean."

"Why would it lie about that? Why would it tell us Cas was trying to protect us from Crowley if that wasn't the truth? What would its motive be to lie about that?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, but something about this doesn't add up. Can you at least agree with me on that?"

Dean stared at his brother pensively for a few moments. "Fine, Sam. I'll try to keep an open mind."

He lifted his eyebrow questioningly at his brother, unable to believe he'd heard him properly.

"Is it so hard to believe I might agree with you?"

"Yeah, actually it is, Dean," he teased lightly.

"Whatever," he said as he rolled his eyes. "At this point I just wanna get home, Sam."

He nodded his head. "Agreed."

**A/N: I'm so sorry it's taken so long to update, but I've had a terrible case of writer's block. Usually I have a huge plot all planned out before I write, but this time I had planned on winging it. That was fine when I was full of ideas, but not so much now. I do have a lot of ideas, it's just putting them together. I will do my best to update this one again soon.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 - Time to Move

Sam and Dean didn't speak to each other for a couple of hours after they arrived back at their motel room, not after their last conversation about Castiel. Both believed something completely different, and neither could understand each other's point of view, although they tried. Silently, they both decided it would be best if they kept everything to themselves. It wasn't until Dean decided he needed to get something to eat, that he actually spoke to his brother.

"I'm hungry. You wanna come get something with me?"

Sam turned his head away from the laptop he was bent over to gaze at his brother.

"Why don't we just eat in?"

He sighed exaggeratedly. "Come on, Sammy. We're never gonna get this chance again. Let's go get some grub and see where that leads us."

He rolled his eyes with a laugh. "You are so transparent."

Dean grinned.

"I think it's safer if we stay here."

"Safe! You're talking to me about safe?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Dean?"

"Forget it," he replied quickly. "Are ya coming with me, or what?"

He shook his head, sighing in annoyance, then closed the laptop, before following Dean from the motel.

Sam watched out the window while Dean was driving through town, deciding where to stop. He knew his brother had something to say to him, he just wondered how long it would take for him to just say it.

"You know there's something I've been meaning to ask you about," he finally said as he pulled the car into a parking space.

Sam turned his head glancing at him curiously.

"Why did you say what you did to Damon? Why did you stand up to him like that when he could have killed you before you even had a chance to blink?"

"Like I've never mouthed off to something that could kill me in the blink of an eye?"

He shook his head, shooting his brother a look of disbelief. "Please don't tell me you feel something for her?"

"Dude, we just met," Sam protested.

"Wouldn't be the first time you fell for a monster, or that quickly."

He shook his head angrily, climbing out of the car and slammed the door hard. He glanced angrily across the top of the car at his brother.

"What the hell's your problem, Dean? One minute you're fine, the next you're back to being bitchy."

He shot his brother an impatient look before turning on his heel and walking into the restaurant.

After taking a few moments to calm down, Sam followed his brother into the restaurant, sitting at the table across from him.

"I'm not gonna forget this, Dean. What's going on?"

The waitress interrupted the conversation before he could reply. They ordered quickly and once she left, Sam repeated his question.

"Leave it alone, Sam."

"No way. You're not getting out of this so easily."

"I don't really want to talk about this right now."

"Well you're gonna talk about it now."

He opened his mouth to reply, but stopped as the waitress placed their drinks on the table and left again.

"I guess we know where the hot women aren't."

"Quit screwing around, Dean."

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Will you leave it alone if I apologize?"

"No," he replied while shaking his head.

He smiled kindly at the waitress as she brought their food to the table, sighing as she left.

"Fine, Sam. If you must know—"

Sam waited for his brother to finish his sentence, but had to gently prod him to continue.

"I'm feeling guilty, Sam."

"You, guilty? About what?" he asked with surprise.

"Vella. She's done nothing but try to help us and I've been such an ass."

Sam stared at his brother with shock and disbelief. "I thought she was just a monster to you?"

"She is, or, was, I dunno. But look what happened to her because she tried to help us."

"What made you change your mind about her?"

He shrugged his shoulders, but kept silent.

Sam wasn't sure why his brother had changed his mind, but he was glad he had. He wanted to get home just as badly as Dean, but if he wasn't willing to cooperate, he wondered if that would ever happen. He couldn't imagine himself living in this crazy world for the rest of his life. Not when his world needed him to make things right and to stop Crowley.

They finished their meal with minimal chatter, then left the restaurant. Sam had been hoping to go back to the motel, but Dean was heading in a different direction.

Dean stopped the Impala in a parking spot outside of The Mystic Grill. He climbed out of the car quickly, but Sam stayed in his seat.

"What are you waiting for, Sammy?" he asked as he opened the passenger's side door. "Shall I offer you my hand, princess?"

"Shut up, Dean!" he replied as he climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

"What are ya pissed about now?"

"I'm not pissed, Dean. I just don't understand what we're doing here."

"If we're gonna be stuck in this hell hole for a while, why can't we have some fun?"

He sighed. "I would suggest leaving you here while I go back to the motel room, but you're liable to get yourself into some trouble without me around."

"I don't need you to look after me, Sam."

He laughed mockingly as he walked into The Grill, his brother following behind him.

While Dean grabbed a beer and made his way around the bar, Sam picked up a newspaper that had been lying on a table, taking it to a table in a quiet corner of the room to read it.

He'd almost read the entire newspaper when Dean showed up at the table letting him know he'd be leaving for awhile. He grinned widely, turning his head in the direction of a beautiful blonde woman who was glancing in their direction also smiling widely. All Sam could do was nod his head and smile as his brother left, hoping he wouldn't get himself into trouble.

He'd only begun reading again when two young ladies approached his table.

"Do you mind if we sit with you, Sam?"

He glanced up from the paper coming eye to eye with Elena.

"Sure," he replied with a warm smile.

"You remember my friend, Caroline?" she asked as she sat down.

"Yes, I do," he replied as he folded up the newspaper, setting it aside.

"Where's your brother?" Caroline asked with disdain as she sat down beside Elena.

"He's, uh, busy, doing something."

"Good."

Elena shot her an annoyed look.

"I don't really want to bother you, but I was hoping you could tell me what happened at the boarding house earlier?"

He shifted in his seat looking uncomfortable, glancing around to see if anyone was listening.

"Vella was possessed by a demon."

She glanced quickly at Caroline with shock.

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah, we managed to get rid of it for now."

"For now?"

He sighed. "Look, I don't know what I should be telling you, but, this thing isn't from your world. I'm not sure what's going on."

"I guess that's why Damon asked Bonnie to go over, but wouldn't allow us to come," she said turning to Caroline again.

"We should go anyway. I'm worried about, Vella."

"I am too, Care. But you know how Damon is."

"It's Stefan's house too."

"Yeah, and he told me to stay away."

"Well I'm not afraid of some stupid demon."

"You should be," Sam interrupted.

The girls both turned to glance at him with surprise.

"I know all about demons, but, we don't know what it might be able to do here in your world."

The girls shot each other a look before turning back to Sam.

"If you're so worried about this thing, then why isn't your brother here with you?" Caroline asked bluntly.

"He, uh, well—I'm sure he can handle himself," he replied uncomfortably.

"Caroline!"

"Elena," she replied impatiently. "I think I can handle myself more than some guy from who knows where."

Sam had become impatient with Caroline's blaisé attitude, but he tried not to show it. After all, he was in a strange place with no clue on how to get back to his own world, and these people might just be the ones to help him. He just smiled and kept hoping that his brother would return soon so he could go back to the motel room.

He did his best to make small talk with the girls, before more people came to sit at the table. Jeremy, Alaric and Jenna. He recognized them from the show as well, but being in their presence made everything feel much more surreal. He often wondered if this was really a very vivid dream that he might wake up from at some point. However, the longer it went on, the more he had to admit to himself that this was really happening.

Every few minutes he checked his watch, hoping his brother would be back. He felt uncomfortable in the presence of so many strangers who knew what was going on, it made him feel like a freak. He hated feeling like a freak. He was about to get up from his seat and make a dash for the bathroom when his brother walked in the front door flashing a wide grin.

"It's about time, Dean," Sam admonished as he approached the table.

"These things take time, Sammy," he teased with a wink.

"About time you got back," Caroline said irritably.

He looked at her angrily. "Who the hell are you to talk to me like that?"

She narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to say something, but Elena set her hand on her arm.

"Caroline, calm down."

Everyone at the table shifted in their seats, clearly uncomfortable with the tension. Thankfully, Dean's borrowed cell phone began to ring, interrupting the situation.

"Hello?" he greeted the caller, listening for a minute before saying, "Bye."

"What is it, Dean?" his brother asked curiously.

"We've been summoned to the Salvatore's," he said as he placed the phone back into his pocket.

"What about us?" Caroline asked with hope.

He shrugged. "Damon said me and my brother, sorry."

"It's okay, Care," Elena said. "I'll call, Stefan."

Dean opened his eyes widely as he glanced at his brother, motioning in the direction of the door.

"Let's go," he said impatiently, turning on his heel quickly and heading out the door, without so much of a backwards glance to see if his brother was following him.

Sam stood up from the table hastily, saying a quick goodbye to everyone at the table before following his brother out the door. He wasn't sure if he wanted to head back to the boarding house so soon, but he was happy to get away from the uncomfortable situation in The Grill.

The brothers were mostly silent during the ride. Sam was irritated with his brother, but he wasn't in the mood to argue. Dean, on the other hand, had been content, until the phone call from Damon.

Dean knocked on the front door before walking right in, Sam following behind him. As they walked into the livingroom, they spied Damon sitting on a chair having a drink.

"I don't recall telling you to just walk right in," Damon said as he placed his glass of whiskey on the table beside him.

Dean narrowed his eyes but chose not to say anything. He knew he was upset about his wife, he didn't want to anger him needlessly, for his own safety.

"Consider yourself lucky I don't just kill you for having bad manners."

Dean rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted.

"That's enough, Damon," Vella said calmly as she walked into the room, Bonnie walking next to her.

"Yes, dear," he replied teasingly.

She smiled at him happily. She was glad he was trying to behave himself.

The Winchesters turned around when they heard her voice.

"How're you feeling?" Sam asked.

She glanced at Damon before answering.

"I'm feeling okay, Sam, thank you."

"So, why did you call us here tonight?" Dean asked curiously.

"Why don't you sit down, both of you," she said while pointing at the couch

The boys sat down beside each other on the couch while Vella walked over to Damon's chair and sat on his lap. Bonnie sat on a chair near the couch.

"I have a couple of things to discuss with you that couldn't wait."

The brothers shot each other confused, yet curious glances.

"First things first though. I need to know if you have any anti-possession charms with you."

"I think I have a couple in the trunk. How many do you need?" Dean asked.

"One is fine," she replied. "Bonnie can duplicate the rest."

"Who are they for?"

She averted his gaze. "Everyone I know."

"Everyone?" Sam asked with shock.

"I learned some things from the demon while it was possessing me," she said shifting uncomfortably on Damon's lap. He placed his hands on her hips to support her. "Maybe just as much as it learned from me."

"What do you mean?"

"It knows about this town's prevalence of vampires and other, uh, supernatural beings."

"And you're worried it's gonna try to possess one of them, is that it?" Dean asked.

"No, Dean. I _know_ that's what it's planning. So I need to keep everyone I care about safe."

"That's just what we need," he replied throwing his hands in the air in frustration. "Demonic monsters."

She stood up from Damon's lap, turning to gaze at him.

"Could you go outside with Dean to help him look for the charms?"

"Why? Does he need someone to hold his hand?" he asked as he stood up.

She sighed in exasperation. "Please, Damon."

"For you," he replied quietly, kissing her lightly on the cheek.

"Thank you," she said with a smile.

"Let's go," he ordered Dean as he began to walk from the livingroom.

Dean looked defiant for a moment before following Damon from the room.

"I'm gonna go with them," Bonnie said. "We need to get this done as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Bonnie."

She nodded her head and left the room.

Vella walked over to Sam, sitting next to him.

"I wanted to apologize for biting you, Sam," she said regretfully.

"That's not necessary, Vella. It wasn't you."

"I know, but I should've been in control of myself."

"Demons are tricky. You shouldn't feel bad about it. At least you were able to stop it."

"It's hard not to feel bad, Sam," she said ruefully. "I could have killed you, or Damon. I never would've been able to forgive myself if that had happened."

He was unsure, but she seemed to be holding something back.

"Is there something else?" he asked shrewdly.

She averted her gaze suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

"What is it?" he prodded gently.

"I wanted to kill you, Sam. Not the demon, but me."

"What?" he asked with shock.

She sighed loudly. "I'm sorry, Sam. But if Damon hadn't knocked me off of you, I probably would have drained the life from you."

He gasped in surprise. "I don't understand."

"I know you don't, and I didn't at first either. I had to put myself back in that moment," she said, a haunted look passing through her eyes. "It was your blood, the demon blood. It tasted different, made me feel stronger. Since I wasn't fully aware of everything it was easy for me to lose my conscious mind and allow my instincts to kick in."

He shifted nervously in his seat. "Uh, you're not, um—"

"Tempted right now?" she interrupted.

"Uh, yeah," he replied uncomfortably.

She smiled slightly. "Well, Sam. The answer to that is yes _and_ no. I'm a vampire. I'm always tempted by blood. But I'm able to keep that under control, under normal circumstances."

"That's good to hear," he replied with relief.

"But, you also helped me get that demon out of my head, Sam, not just Damon."

"Me? How?"

She laughed slightly at his surprise. "I guess the demon wasn't thinking when it had me drink your blood. It gave me the power to fight it."

He was pleased to know he'd helped, but he hated being reminded that it was because he was a freak.

Vella looked like she was about to say more when Dean walked in.

"Damon wanted me to let you know he went out to deliver the charms, and so did Bonnie."

"Thanks, Dean," she said standing up from the couch. "I needed to speak with the two of you alone, anyways."

He looked at her apprehensively while taking a seat beside his brother.

She moved over to the chair across from the couch and sat down, folding her hands in her lap.

"Before I ask this, I want you to know I've already spoke to Damon and his brother about it."

The brothers shot each other a curious glance.

"I was hoping the two of you would consider staying here until we can get you home."

"Stay here? In this mausoleum?" Dean asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Dean—"

"It's okay, Sam," she said with understanding. "I wouldn't blame either of you for saying no. I just figured it would be safer if you were here where I could keep an eye on things."

"You mean keep an eye on _us_, don't you?" Dean asked with a raised voice. "Do you seriously think I would sleep under the same roof as a bunch of monsters?"

"Dean!" Sam called angrily.

"No, Sam, it's okay. I understand his trepidation. I just figured it would be safer here."

"How could it possibly be safer here?"

"Because no one in this house wants to harm you, Dean. Despite your constant name calling and bad manners."

Sam had to stifle a laugh.

"The demon won't be able to get back in this house, I've made sure of that. But out there, who knows what could be after you."

He shot his brother a questioning glance, who shrugged in response.

"Could you at least think about it, Dean?"

He rolled his eyes and sighed in resignation.

"Fine. I will _think_ about it, but no promises."

"Great," she said as she stood up. "Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna go up to bed. I still need some rest."

"We'll show ourselves out," Dean said as he stood up.

Sam stood up too, but his eyes were still fixed on Vella, though he was unsure why. He began to walk towards the exit, when he noticed her falter, almost collapsing on the ground. He was able to catch her before she hit the ground, easing her down onto the floor gently, his arms supporting her tightly.

"Vella, are you okay?"

Dean ran up behind Sam looking concerned.

Her eyes were glazed over with pain, staring at him uncomprehendingly. He continued to call her name until she could finally answer him.

"I'm okay, Sam," she said breathlessly.

"No, you're not. What happened?"

She attempted to stand up, but she was unable to get to her feet without the help of Sam and Dean. Once she was on her feet, she had the boys help her to the nearest chair.

"This is getting way out of hand," she said seriously. "Somehow another demon made it to this world."

"What happened to you? And how do you know that?" Dean asked.

"It's the balance of nature. It continues to be upset every time something comes here that doesn't belong."

"That doesn't explain what happened to you?"

She gazed at him shrewdly for a moment.

"You're not beginning to care, are you, Dean?"

He shifted his gaze uncomfortably. "I just thought—nevermind."

"Are you gonna be okay?" Sam asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just gonna lay down on the couch instead of heading up to bed."

"We can stay here until Damon gets back if you'd like?"

His brother shot him an irritated look.

"That's kind of you to offer, Sam, but I'll be fine."

He watched her pensively, wanting to ask her something else, but he decided he didn't want to with his brother standing right there.

"She's fine, Sam, let's go," Dean said.

A wordless message seemed to pass between Sam and Vella. Although he was unsure how, he was happy to know she was telling the truth, she was okay. He vowed he would ask her about it later, when they were alone.

"Take care of yourself, Vella," Sam said as he followed his brother from the house.

Dean was quiet during the walk to the car, although he seemed to be brooding. It was dark outside, but he noticed Dean glare at him across the roof of the car while he was opening the door, but he chose to ignore it at that moment.

They drove down the long driveway and turned onto the main road before the silence became deafening to Sam.

"Say it, Dean."

"What?"

"You know what. Now say it."

"Why would you even consider staying in that mausoleum, Sam? Have you lost your mind?"

He suddenly realized he'd been much more sensitive to Dean's attitude because of the things Vella had discussed with him in private. He thought there was more, but he'd been reading much more into it than he should have.

"She could be right, Dean. It might be safer if we stayed there."

"We also might become someone's lunch if we stay there."

He laughed with amusement. "Are you scared? Is that it?"

"That's not it and you know it."

"Then what is it? You keep changing your mind about everything and it's getting us nowhere."

He glanced at his brother for a moment, before paying attention to the road.

"Can we just forget all of this for a few hours?"

He knew he wasn't going to get any farther with his brother tonight, so he reluctantly agreed. He spent the entire ride gazing out the window at the sights, trying to keep his mind off of Vella. although he was still unsure why he couldn't get her out of his mind.

When the brothers reached the motel, they both got out of the car, shooting knowing glances at each other over the hood of the car. Both of them had a strange feeling, an instinct. They reached for their guns, although they had no idea what might be watching them. Either way, it made them feel a little safer.

They walked around to the front of the car before they noticed a dark figure in the shadows a few parking spaces away. The figure watched them for a few moments before taking a few steps forward into the light from a nearby lightpost.

"Do we know him?" Dean asked quietly, keeping his gaze on the figure.

"I think that's, Tyler Lockwood," Sam replied.

"Didn't you say he's the kid who's a werewolf?"

"Yes, but it's not a full moon. So he can't turn."

"That's a relief."

Sam opened his mouth to say something to him, when suddenly Tyler began to shake violently, screaming in pain.

"What the hell, Sam? I thought he couldn't turn."

He shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you."

"What stops a werewolf here?"

He looked deep in thought for a moment before replying.

"Wolfsbane."

"I'm fresh out, Sam. What else?"

"Unless you can rip his heart out, we're screwed."

While Tyler continued to scream, his body contorting into odd positions followed by the sound of bones breaking, the brothers made a run for their motel room. As Sam was trying to find the key in his pocket, Dean grabbed the borrowed cell phone from his pocket, searching through the numbers to find someone who could help them. He was about to dial a number when the giant snarling wolf made a dash at them, scattering the brothers in different directions, Dean dropping the phone in his haste to move away from the razor sharp teeth.

The brothers simultaneously pulled out their guns hoping to slow Tyler down, when they noticed something whip past them in a blur, slamming into the wolf, who hit the wall of the motel with a thud, falling to the ground in a heap, seemingly unconscious.

"Looks like I saved your asses again," Damon said smugly.

"What the hell is going on?" Dean asked.

"I think Tyler is possessed, it's the only explanation. I wasn't able to find him—until now."

"Why the hell did he turn? It's not a full moon."

"Look, we don't have time for explanations, those can wait. Grab your shit from the motel room, get in your car and drive as fast as you can to my house."

Dean opened his mouth to protest, but Damon's look was adamant.

"Go, now! I'll keep him off your asses."

As Tyler began to stir, the brothers did as they were told. They ran into their motel room, grabbed what little they owned, threw it all into the Impala and began driving to the boarding house.

**A/N: I am SO sorry it's taken this long to update. Besides the writer's block, my computer was down for a while. Of course, once it was down I finally got some ideas lol. I have ideas for all 3 of my stories so it may be a bit before I update while I rotate between them.**

**For those wondering about Tyler, I will summarize that in the next chapter, but if you read my TVD story (Haunted Past, Deadly Future) then you will already know why he can turn. And of course, you will know more about Vella.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 ~ Blood Bond

The Winchesters were virtually silent during the ride to the boarding house.

Dean was driving much faster than he normally would, but Sam was too preoccupied in thought to even notice. He had so many questions running through his head, he didn't even notice when his brother stopped the car.

"Are you just gonna sit there or what?" Dean asked as he climbed out of car.

Sam glanced in his brother's direction for a moment before he comprehended what was happening.

"Yeah, I'm coming," he replied, climbing out of the car.

"What the hell is going on, Sam?" he asked as he opened the back door, retrieving his dufflebag from the back seat.

He shot his brother a confused look before retrieving his dufflebag from the back seat.

"Sammy? What the hell?"

"Dean! Can you just give it a rest?" he replied in frustration.

His brother narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Spill it, Sam."

Sam threw his dufflebag over his shoulder, slamming the car door. "We were nearly taken out by a werewolf and you're asking me what's wrong?"

"Right. Because I forgot you've never been in a life and death situation before," he replied sarcastically.

"And you're completely fine, Dean? Is that what you're saying?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm obviously doing better than you."

He snorted. "Only because you haven't begun to dwell on the fact that we're gonna be staying here," he replied, pointing at the boarding house.

Sam watched his brother in amusement as the realization of his statement sunk in.

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me, Sam."

"No problem," he replied with a teasing grin.

He rolled his eyes, slamming the car door. "I wouldn't be so smug, Sam. I think we're gonna regret this."

He shook his head. "Why can't you stop being so negative all the time?"

He glared at his brother for a moment before turning to walk towards the house. That was when Vella came running outside.

"What's going on?" she asked with concern.

Sam shot his brother a knowing look, before replying. "It's Tyler Lockwood."

"What about him?" she asked impatiently.

"He was possessed," he replied. "If it wasn't for Damon, he might've killed us."

She stood pensively for a moment. "Where's Damon?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "He told us he'd take care of Tyler."

"You're gonna have to explain what the hell is going on," Dean said.

"Get in the house, both of you," she replied commandingly. "Tell Stefan what happened. I have to go after Damon."

"Are you sure you're up for that?" Sam asked.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Just get in the house, right now. No arguing."

Dean opened his mouth to respond, but she ran off into the darkness too quickly.

Sam stared blankly at the empty space she'd been standing in for a moment, before heading towards the house, leaving his brother to catch up to him.

Once they were inside the house, they explained what had happened to Stefan, who also left the house quickly, leaving them completely alone in the house.

"I don't like this, Sam," Dean said, helping himself to some whiskey. "Staying in this house. Trusting people we don't know. And I use the term _people_ loosely."

"We're back to that, are we?"

"I know you have a soft spot for Vella, but she's still a vampire."

Sam shook his head, refusing to get into a debate with him again. He knew his brother was just frustrated and needed to lash out. Besides, he wasn't in the mood to argue. Too much had happened and too much was running through his mind.

It was a short time later when the three Salvatores returned to the house.

Stefan, who looked exhausted, nodded at the Winchesters before he left the room, heading upstairs, while Damon and Vella, walking hand in hand, sat on the couch beside each other.

The Winchesters sat on their chairs awkwardly, both wanting to speak, to ask questions, but something kept either of them from saying a word. For Dean, it was the couples' posture. For Sam, it was more of a feeling.

"How are you feeling, love?" Damon asked Vella with a warm smile. "You look like you need sleep."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Not until you show it to me."

"Show you what?" he asked with surprise.

"Dammit, Damon!" she replied with frustration. "I know Tyler bit you. We don't have time to screw around with this."

He sighed. "You're exhausted. We can do this in the morning."

"No! I'm fine and we're gonna do this now!" she replied commandingly.

He opened his mouth to refuse again, but one look shut him up.

"Boys," she said as she cast a glance at Sam and Dean. "Could you do me a favor and get a few things for me?"

They both nodded in agreement.

"Here," she said, and with a wave of a hand a book appeared on the table in front of them opened to a specific page. "Take that book into the kitchen and find everything on the list for me, please."

Sam picked up the book and headed towards the kitchen immediately, his brother following behind him a few seconds later. They left so quickly, neither of them noticed the scowling look Damon had shot them.

Once the Winchesters were out of the room, Vella's anger towards Damon began to show on her face.

"How could you do something so stupid, Damon?" she asked furiously. "You should know better than this."

"I'm fine. I'm more worried about you."

"Why do you always do this?" she asked with frustration. "You need to worry about yourself as much as you worry about me."

"And why do you always ask me that exact question when you know I'm not gonna change?" he replied with a smirk.

She sighed, shaking her head. "You are so frustrating, Damon Salvatore!"

"And you're so beautiful when you're angry," he said, grasping her by the hand and pulling her close.

She waited a moment before wrenching her hand away, her severe look softening.

"You're not off the hook that easily," she said angrily, although the warm look in her eyes gave her away.

He made a pouty face. "But I'm dying. Is that how we're gonna spend my last day on Earth together?"

"That is not funny, Damon!" she said, slapping him lightly. "Too bad you're gonna live."

He grinned teasingly. "That hurts."

She rolled her eyes, sighing loudly as she headed into the kitchen.

"Is everything okay in here?" she asked the Winchesters as she entered the room.

"Yeah, we found it all," Dean replied.

"Thank you, Dean," she replied in relief.

"What's this for anyways?" he asked.

She'd grabbed a bowl from the cupboard and had begun to mix the ingredients they'd found for her before she answered.

"It's a cure for a werewolf bite."

"I thought they were fatal to vampires," Sam said, earning a strange look from his brother.

She chuckled. "It's my mother's cure."

"What's so funny?" he asked defensively.

"Oh. Well, I just think it's sort of amusing that you know so much about these things."

Dean laughed, while Sam shot him a warning look.

"What about Tyler turning when it wasn't a full moon?"

She looked at Sam for a moment, a strange expression crossing her face.

"Let me finish this and then we'll talk about that."

She began to utter words in a strange language, waving her hand over the bowl she'd placed the ingredients in. When she became silent, she picked the bowl up and walked out of the kitchen, the boys following close behind her.

Damon rolled his eyes as he saw the Winchesters following behind his wife. He promised to behave around them, but he didn't have to like it. And he definitely didn't like either of them.

Vella sat the bowl on the table beside the couch, then sat down on the couch next to Damon. She reached for his arm, but he pulled it away from her, wincing.

"Don't be such a baby," she said, grabbing his hand firmly and pulling it towards her.

He was definitely not pleased, but he allowed her to do what she needed to.

She ripped the sleeve of his shirt until she exposed the entire bite, which was on his upper arm, just past his elbow. It wasn't incredibly deep, but it was already beginning to fester. She applied the ointment she'd made, which was thick and pasty, and she wasn't gentle about it. But when she was finished, she poured him a drink to soothe his already bruised ego, then kissed him lightly to put him in a better mood.

Damon was still incredibly irritable, but once he finished his drink he began to calm down then nod off, eventually falling asleep.

Vella turned to smile at the Winchesters once he was asleep.

"I figured it would be easier to speak to you if he was sleeping."

"You mean you put him to sleep?" Dean asked with surprise.

"Yes. He needs to sleep and I know he wouldn't have otherwise," she explained. "He's way too overprotective sometimes."

"There's no such thing as being too overprotective," Dean said, glancing quickly at his brother.

She laughed. "I know you don't understand, Dean. But everything a vampire feels is intensified. So, while Damon has always been protective of the ones he loves, well, sometimes he just goes way too far."

"But he should be worried about you, shouldn't he?" Sam asked.

His brother looked at him strangely, but she didn't seem at all surprised by his question.

"He has a right to worry, but while he's busy worrying about me, he's not worrying about himself," she replied, then quickly changed the subject. "Wasn't there something you wanted to ask me earlier?"

Sam seemed a little put off by her change of subject, so he didn't say anything. However, it didn't stop his brother.

"How did that Tyler kid turn when it wasn't a full moon?"

She seemed to be looking past him wistfully for a moment, before she replied.

"It's rather a long story, Dean. But I'll do my best to explain," she said as she stood up, pouring herself a drink before sitting back on the couch. "Tyler's family was cursed long ago by a witch, and through some research, I came to find out the witch was my ancestor. Well, this was during a very turbulent time in my life, so I decided to make it up to the Lockwood's and try to remove his curse. But someone else had other plans. They interrupted my spell in an attempt to kill me and it caused the spell to be incomplete. Now Tyler can turn whenever he wants to during the night, or not turn at all, even during a full moon."

"Well isn't that great," Dean said sarcastically.

"How did you manage to stop the demon then?" Sam asked.

She looked uncomfortable and embarrassed for a moment.

"First, I tried to remember the words to the exorcism," she replied with shame. "But then I did the only thing I could think of. I used magic to force Tyler to revert back to his human form for the rest of the night."

"Don't feel bad for not remembering the exorcism," Sam said with understanding. "Latin isn't always easy."

She laughed. "I'm good with languages, Sam. I am a witch after all. It should've been easy for me to remember."

An uneasy silence fell over the room, making the three of them feel slightly awkward. It wasn't until Damon made a sound in his sleep that Vella thought of something to say.

"I bet the two of you would like to go to bed," she said standing up. "Why don't I show you to your rooms?"

The brothers cast each other curious glances, standing up.

"Come on, grab your stuff and follow me," she said as she eased Damon up from the couch, hefting him over her shoulder in one fluid movement, while the brothers stared in amazement. "Any day boys. He's not light when he's dead weight ya know."

Dean grinned at the dead weight reference, but managed to stifle laughing out loud, especially after the dirty look his brother had shot him.

After Vella laid Damon in their bed, she led the boys a short way down the hall, stopping in front of a closed door.

"Here's your room," she said gesturing towards the door behind her. "And the one across the hallway," she said, pointing in front of her. "Unless the two of you want to share the same room—the beds are pretty large."

She snickered after her last comment, the brothers casting each other knowing glances.

"Makes yourselves at home, boys. I'm off to bed," she said, walking down the hallway towards her bedroom.

Dean opened the door, gasping as he saw the size of the room.

"Maybe I can learn to like staying here, Sammy," he joked.

His brother rolled his eyes wearily. "If you're done, I'm going to bed, Dean."

He cast a suspicious look at his brother before dragging his dufflebag inside the room and closing the door.

Sam walked to the door across the hallway, opening it widely. He was just as astonished as his brother at the size of the room, but his thoughts were once again preoccupied. He set his bag in the room, then walked down the hallway in the direction Vella had went.

He was so preoccupied, he didn't even notice Vella standing in the hallway by her bedroom door until he almost ran into her.

"Are you looking for me, Sam?" she asked, startling him.

"Uh, actually, yeah," he stammered.

She smiled lightly in amusement. "You have other questions, don't you?"

"How did you know?" he asked with surprise.

"The same way you know something is wrong with me but you're not sure how you know."

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What's going on?"

"Could we talk about this in the morning, Sam?"

He shook his head. "No. This has been bothering me since you attacked me. I, uh, mean, since the demon in your body attacked me."

"Fine," she replied wearily. "Let's go downstairs and talk, though."

He nodded in agreement, following her down the stairs and into the livingroom. She sat down on the couch and beckoned for him to join her, which he did reluctantly.

"I'm sorry, Sam. I really should have explained this before. I guess I felt it was more important to apologize for almost killing you than explaining what you might experience."

She seemed genuine with her apology, but he also felt suspicious and confused.

"Here, in this world, when a vampire shares their blood with another, and vice versa, they forge a sort of bond. That's why you can feel what I'm feeling."

His confusion turned to bewilderment. "I don't understand. You drank my blood, but not the other way around."

Her gaze shifted furtively. "But I used my blood to heal you."

"No, you didn't," he replied with confusion.

She looked down in shame, speaking softly. "Yes, I did, Sam. Remember the first day you visited?"

He snorted. "How could I forget? Damon and Dean attacked each other and I ended up with a stake in the thigh," he replied. "But, you healed me with magic. I don't understand."

She gazed at him with shame and embarrassment. "I was weak, Sam. Much too weak to use any powerful magic. But I knew if I didn't help, you would bleed out before you made it to a hospital. So the spell I used basically used my blood to heal you, with no one knowing any different." She paused for a moment, sighing. "I'm really sorry, Sam. I should've told you sooner."

He wasn't quite sure what to think about her confession, or even what to say. She'd done what she could to help him when he needed it and he definitely couldn't fault her for that. She couldn't have known a demon would possess her and feed on his blood, forming the bond. And he knew, no, he felt, she was sorry.

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner? Why did I have to ask?"

She glanced down at her hands, which she'd folded in her lap. "The bond is permanent, Sam. I didn't want to admit it to myself, let alone you..."

"Or Damon?" he asked.

She gazed up at him, her eyes sad and wistful. "You heard what the demon said about his brother, Stefan, right? Stefan and I have a permanent bond and Damon is reminded of that every time he looks at him. If it wasn't for Stefan I'd be dead, but at the same time it still bothers him." She paused a moment, placing a hand on his knee. "You don't need to listen to my problems, Sam. You need to get some sleep and so do I."

"Are you gonna be okay?"

She smiled thankfully. "Yes, Sam, thank you. But I need to get some sleep or I'm not gonna be strong enough to deal with these demons."

He laid his hand on hers, which was still on his knee, gazing into her eyes. "You don't have to do this alone."

She felt the connection between them and was frightened by it. They seemed to understand each other on a deeper level. She quickly realized it was probably the reason she'd always sympathized with his character on the show, but she couldn't allow it to become any deeper than it was. She knew he was meant for greater things. Besides, no one could ever capture her heart like Damon had.

She stood up quickly, suddenly uncomfortable with the physical contact between them.

"Good night, Sam," she said, quickly leaving the room and heading upstairs.

He watched her leave, staring blankly at the empty spot she'd left. He was feeling a mess of emotions, none of which he could decipher at the moment. He wasn't quite sure what the connection between them meant, but he was positive he didn't like it. It took him a few moments, but eventually he was able to think straight again, quickly heading up to bed, desperately hoping that sleep would help him escape from everything he was feeling.

Sam was awakened the next morning by loud, obnoxious knocking at his door. He knew it was his brother and he knew it wasn't going to stop until he opened the door, no matter how badly he wanted to go back to sleep. So he reluctantly climbed out of bed and opened the door before jumping back into bed and pulling the covers over his head.

"Rise and shine, Sammy," Dean said with enthusiasm.

He pulled the covers from his head, glaring at his brother. "Why are you so cheery this morning?"

"How can I not be?" he asked. "That bed was awesome! It's like being in a four star hotel."

"Well I'm glad you slept, Dean, but I didn't, so can it with the cheer."

He looked at his brother suspiciously. "Is something going on with you I should know about?"

He wondered if he should tell his brother about the conversation he'd had with Vella the night before, but quickly decided it would be a bad idea. He knew what his brother would think, let alone say. He figured if he needed to tell him later he could, but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

"No. Why?"

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Then why didn't you sleep?"

He shook his head in disbelief. "For someone who was so opposed to staying here, you sure slept well."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Just making the best of a bad situation."

"Right," he replied with a roll of the eyes.

With Dean pestering him, Sam managed to become motivated enough to get out of bed and dressed into some fresh clothes. He was not looking forward to going downstairs, but he knew there was no way to stay in the bedroom with the covers pulled over his head, as much as he'd like to.

The brothers casually walked down the stairs and headed into the livingroom, unsure what to expect.

Stefan was sitting on the couch with Elena when they walked in. They were holding hands and talking quietly, but turned their heads as the boys walked in. After a short exchange of greetings, the boys headed into the kitchen to grab some coffee, as suggested by Stefan.

Sam was secretly relieved when he was able to sit at the kitchen table and have some coffee without running into Vella or Damon. He had no feelings towards her, except compassion and understanding, but he still felt guilty about the bond. He hated knowing how guilty she felt, it made things much more difficult for him to sort out his own feelings.

After their second cup of coffee, Damon appeared in the kitchen, poured himself a coffee, then ripped the newspaper Sam had begun to read from his hands, sat down and began reading. Dean shot his brother an irritated glance, but Sam only shrugged his shoulders in response.

"I see no one managed to kill you in your sleep," Damon said with a grin as he sat the paper down on the table.

Sam shot his brother a warning glance when he noticed the look on his face.

"I see you made it through the night, too," Dean said, also with a grin.

Damon stared at him menacingly for a moment before chuckling lightly. "It would take more than you to kill me."

"I've ganked things much stronger, quicker and smarter than you," he replied with a smirk.

"Is that a challenge, _Dean_?"

"Maybe."

Damon and Dean both glared at each other, looking as if they were about to fly out of their chairs and kill each other on the spot. Sam glanced back and forth at each other, unsure what he should do, or say, to break the tension between them. He was positive he didn't want to get in the middle of it this time, not after he was the one who managed to get hurt the last time he stood between them.

"Back off, Damon," Stefan said as he walked into the kitchen, quickly followed by Elena.

He glanced at his brother with irritation for a moment before sighing loudly. "Hero Stefan to the rescue as usual."

"Ignore him," Stefan said to the brothers. "He's just irritable this morning."

He snorted. "Yes, brother. Please keep them informed. I'm sure they need an update on every mood swing."

"You're unusually bitchy this morning," Elena remarked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"I think I have a right to be, don't you?" he replied, glaring at the Winchesters.

"Hey! We didn't ask to be here!" Dean replied defensively.

"Good, then get lost."

"Why are you being so rude, Damon?" she asked.

"Elena," Stefan said as he put his arm around her. "Don't get in the middle of this."

"Oh yes, brother. We wouldn't want your woman in harms way, now would we?"

"Screw you, Damon!" she said, storming out of the kitchen, nearly spilling her coffee.

His brother narrowed his eyes at him. "I'm warning you, Damon. Feel free to be angry with me but you leave her out of this."

They stared each other down, their eyes speaking much more than their words could ever say to each other.

The Winchesters glanced at each other uncomfortably, not wanting to interfere or interrupt. But they only had to wait a few seconds, when the kitchen door opened and Vella entered the room. Stefan backed off immediately, while Damon shot her a forced, bright smile.

"That isn't going to work with me, Damon," she said with disappointment. "I asked you to do one thing."

Stefan excused himself from the room, leaving quickly.

"They're here and alive," he replied innocently.

She sighed wearily. "Why do you have to make things so difficult for me?"

He stood up, closing the space between them in an instant.

"I'm sorry, love," he said, placing one hand around her waist, the other he used to brush her cheek lightly with his fingertips.

"I know you are," she said looking deep into his eyes. "But could you try a little harder please?"

He fought the urge to cast an angry glance at the Winchesters, smiling at his wife instead.

"You know I'd do anything for you."

She kissed him on the lips lightly before moving her face near his ear, speaking so quietly her voice was virtually inaudible, even to his sensitive vampire ears.

"I need you to watch them for a few more minutes, I need to hunt."

"By yourself? No way," he replied loud enough the Winchesters could hear.

"Unless you want to drag them along with us, yes," she whispered.

"You're not going alone," he replied vehemently.

"And who should I bring with me? Stefan? He doesn't exactly agree. Besides, he'd probably freak out and kill someone."

"Why can't he watch these morons?"

She smiled in amusement. "I see you need your ego stroked again."

He smiled deviously.

"You know he's not as strong as you are," she teased, doing her best impression of a damsel in distress.

"Yeah, I get it."

She smiled. "Good."

"Uh, excuse me," Dean called. "I don't need a babysitter. I'm more than capable of looking after myself."

"That's why I had to save your ass last night?"

Dean opened his mouth to retort, but Vella shot him a look that kept him quiet.

"Damon. Can you please control yourself?" she begged.

He raised an eyebrow looking as if he was about to say something witty, before the expression on his face changed to one that seemed more thoughtful. Now she knew she wasn't going to like what he was about to say.

"I'll promise. But only if you promise not to go out on your own until this...situation is taken care of."

"That's not fair and you know it," she replied, crossing her arms.

"Did we just meet?" he teased with a grin.

She held a steely gaze for a moment before she grinned lightly, slapping his arm playfully.

"Fine. I guess they'll have to stay here."

"Hey, do we get a vote or what?" Dean interrupted.

The couple glanced in his direction almost instantaneously.

"Trust me, you don't want to come with us," Vella replied.

"Why not?"

"Dean," Sam called. "Let it go."

"But I —"

"We'll be back in about ten minutes, Dean," she said with annoyance. "Then we'll discuss what we're gonna do about the demon inside Tyler."

"Where are you—ok, fine, whatever."

Without so much as a glance, the couple sped out of the room, leaving the brothers alone.

"Where the hell did they need to go so urgently?" Dean asked.

"I don't think we wanna know," Sam replied with distaste.

He looked at his brother with confusion for a moment before realization dawned on him.

"You mean they're gonna go kill someone?" he asked with agitation. "We gotta stop them!"

"No, Dean," he replied with a shake of his head. "They're not gonna kill anyone. Just feed from them."

"How the hell is that any different?"

Sam quickly explained the process of compelling someone then feeding from them. And even though he didn't agree with it, he understood why it needed to be done. Although he was unsure whether he sympathized with it because he knew it was a necessary evil, or because he could sense Vella's desperate need for it through their bond. Either way, he desperately wished there was a way to break it.

"How do you know all this anyway?"

He shrugged his shoulders, unsure how to answer.

"Okay, we really need to have a serious talk, Sammy," he said with concern. "Something is going on that you're not telling me about."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Dean."

"You mean you're not keeping something from me?" he asked suspiciously.

"No."

He shook his head with frustration. "You better not be, Sam. I want out of this hell hole as soon as possible."

"And you don't think I do?"

"Not as much as I do. You seem—at home here."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked furiously.

"Well, we are among your kind, aren't we?"

He glared at his brother furiously. "Are you ever gonna give that a rest? I'm really sick of you constantly bringing that up."

"Not until you tell me what's going on."

He continued to glare angrily at his brother while pondering whether he should tell him about the bond. But he knew his brother better than anyone, and he knew his brother would never understand. He couldn't let him know about it now, maybe not ever.

"Nothing's going on, Dean."

"I guess I'm imagining it then," he remarked.

He opened his mouth to say more, but he was interrupted by the kitchen door flying open.

"Get whatever it is you need to fight a demon and get your asses outside," Damon said quickly, then disappeared back through the door.

The brothers cast anxious glances at each other before running out of the house, heading straight for the Impala.

**A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to update. I've been so engrossed in my SPN fanfic I haven't been able to write anything else. **

**You can read more about what happened with Tyler if you read my TVD fanfic, in case you haven't already. There's a lot more to it than what I explained here. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 ~ Salt and Wolfsbane

Dean and Sam had the trunk of the Impala open loading up on salt rounds for their shotguns, as well as grabbing flasks of holy water, while Sam also grabbed Ruby's knife, just in case. He wasn't sure if it would work here, and he was positive Vella wouldn't want him to kill Tyler—or anyone else—but he thought it was better to be safe than sorry.

Damon appeared in a blink, glaring at them with impatience. "Are you two ready or what?"

The brothers nodded their heads simultaneously, following Damon away from the house and into the trees. Both felt the scenery was ominous, and Dean was unsure if he was leading them in the right direction. However, Sam knew he was. He could feel Vella was in trouble and there was no way Damon hated him or his brother more than he loved her.

As they approached a clearing in the trees, the hairs on Sam's neck began to stand up. He glanced quickly at his brother, who seemed to be feeling the same thing. The demons were close.

Once they broke through the trees, they saw Vella with her back to them. She was facing Tyler, who was still possessed, and there was another man beside him as well.

"The other one is a vampire and he's possessed, too," Damon said, answering their unasked question.

The brothers glanced uneasily at each other, before turning their attention back to the demons.

"Nice of you to join us, boys," the demon inside of Tyler taunted. "These two vampires won't be enough to keep us from killing you this time."

"You seem to be forgetting about us," Dean replied. "We're not going down that easily."

It cackled with laughter. "We'll see about that."

The brothers lifted their shotguns, one aiming at the vampire, the other aiming at Tyler. But before anyone could react, the possessed vampire disappeared in a flash.

"I'll go after him," Damon said to the brothers, "You stay here with my wife." Before they had a chance to respond, Damon had taken off after the vampire.

"Well, that's unfortunate," it taunted. "Tyler here really doesn't like Damon very much. I'm sure he'd enjoy feeling me crush the life out of him."

"Shut up!" Vella yelled. "You're not gonna hurt anyone."

It laughed in amusement. "You're wrong about that. But first I'm gonna take out the Winchesters, then your husband, his brother and the rest of your friends. I'm gonna save you for last."

She glared at him furiously. "Give me your best shot!"

The demon barely had a chance to grin before it was shot twice by both Dean and Sam in quick succession, stumbling backwards a few feet, wailing in agony.

"Don't hurt, Tyler," she begged the boys.

"They're salt rounds, Vella," Sam replied.

She nodded her head in understanding. "Keep shooting him. I need it kept distracted."

The boys did as they were asked. They loaded their guns over and over again, shooting it as many times as they could, one after another, while Vella was chanting something. However, all the boys were doing was making the demon more and more angry. When it was fully enraged, it screamed a blood curdling scream, then with the wave of a hand the brothers flew backwards a couple fo feet, landing on their backsides.

The demon was happy to see the Winchesters on the ground, but it wasn't done venting its rage. It screamed again, then lunged for Vella. She was so involved with the spell she was attempting to cast, it managed to get its hands on her, while the momentum sent both of them crashing to the ground.

Vella did her best to break free of the demon's grip, who had grasped her by the throat in an attempt to choke her, but it was too strong. Between Tyler's werewolf strength and the strength of the demon, it was too much for her. But she wasn't out of ideas yet. She hadn't wanted to get close enough to the demon to use this tactic, but now she had little choice. She reached into the pocket of her jeans, fighting off the wave of unconciousness that was attempting to take hold, and pulled out a dried plant and salt. It took considerable effort, but she managed to shove the plant and salt into Tyler's mouth, causing the demon to choke violently, before turning into black smoke, flying out of Tyler's mouth and into the sky, while his body dropped unceremoniously to the ground.

Sam and Dean ran over to Vella and helped her to sit up. She was breathing heavily, still gasping for breath, but she was okay. Tyler, however, didn't look fine.

Vella waved the boys off, then leaned towards Tyler, placing her hand on his chest.

"Is he okay?" Sam asked with concern.

She shook her head. "Not really. But before I do anything, I need help with something."

"What's that?"

"Dean," she said, turning towards him. "Could you take off your shirt for me?"

"What?!" he said with shock. "What do you need me to do that for?"

She managed to smile slightly. "I just need to touch your tattoo, if you don't mind."

He looked at her with confusion and apprehension, but he pulled his shirt down far enough to expose his tattoo.

She gazed at him shyly, blushing slightly as she placed her hand over the tattoo on his chest, then with her other hand, she placed it on Tyler's chest in the same spot. After she chanted a few words, an exact replica of the tattoo suddenly appeared on his chest.

"I couldn't take any chances he might get possessed again," she replied , breathing raggedly as she removed her hands from Dean.

"Vella," Sam said with concern. "I think you better rest. We can take care of Tyler."

"No," she replied with dismay. "He's dying. He needs healing."

"You're too weak. Can't it wait?"

"I'm afraid not, Sam."

He gazed into her eyes, seeing something no one else did. She was frightened. It wasn't just for Tyler, it was also for herself. He could feel everything she was feeling at that moment, and it was just as clear as if he'd been in her head. She was afraid what might happen if she tried to heal him, but she knew he would die if she didn't try. She hadn't even had a chance to feed yet, which had already weakened her before the fight. She wasn't even sure if she could do it.

Sam glanced at his brother, about to ask him to look for Damon, but then he strolled into the clearing carrying Ruby's knife.

"Where'd you get that?" Dean asked furiously.

"I borrowed it," he replied. "And a good thing I did. There's one less demon—and vampire, amongst us."

"I guess it was okay to kill that vampire since you didn't know him, right?"

"Ding, ding, ding. Ten points to Dean," he replied with a sarcastic grin as he handed the knife to him, hilt first.

He took the knife from Damon, resisting the urge to use it on him.

Dean probably could have used it and Damon wouldn't have noticed until it was too late, since his attention was now focused on his wife. With a single glare, Sam backed away from her as he approached her.

Vella was kneeling on the ground in front of Tyler, her eyes full of tears. Damon squatted down beside her, his arm around her.

"What's going on, love?"

She gazed into his eyes with a pitiful look. "He's dying, Damon."

"Can you do something? Or is it gonna be too much for you?"

She averted his gaze sadly.

"Then you have to let him go."

"No, Damon! I can't do that."

"You can and you will," he stated adamantly.

Tears began to fall from her eyes. "You know I can't."

He grasped her by the shoulders tightly, gazing deeply into her eyes. "Not even for me?"

She averted her gaze, closing her eyes and began to sob.

Sam looked at his brother sadly, who only shrugged his shoulders in response.

Vella?" Sam called hesitantly, earning him a dangerous glare from Damon.

"I already know what you're gonna say, Sam," she replied, turning towards him while wiping tears from her eyes. "I can't let you do it."

Damon glanced back and forth from Sam to his wife with a curious look. "Are you donating?"

"He most definitely is _not_!" Dean replied, shooting an angry glare at his brother.

Sam sighed loudly. "Am I the only one thinking clearly here?" he asked no one in particular. "She's gonna heal him no matter what any of us say. If she dies, we're stuck here, possibly forever."

"I have no objections," Damon replied with grin. "My only hope is she drains the life right out of you."

He rolled his eyes at his response, then glanced at his brother. "Dean?"

"You do what you want, Sam," he replied, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration.

He shrugged his shoulders and walked over to stand beside Vella, reaching his arm towards her.

She turned to gaze up at Sam, a grateful look in her eyes, although she conveyed more than that through their bond. She was also sorry for what she was about to do. Even after all the time she'd spent as a vampire, she never enjoyed feeding, even from a willing participant. And she knew this was going to be difficult for her. The demon blood running inside him was poweful and difficult to resist. And in her weakened state, she could only hope she'd be able to stop herself before she hurt or killed him.

Damon released his grip on his wife as she reached out for Sam's hand, twisting his arm slightly so she could find the perfect spot to feed from. When she was sure she was ready, she pulled his wrist up to her mouth, her fangs descending and piercing the flesh on his wrist in one fluid movement, drinking only a small amount of blood before retracting her fangs. And when she was done, she nodded her head thankfully, wiping away the blood on her lips with the back of her hand.

"Do you feel okay now?" Damon asked with worry.

She nodded, albeit hesitantly. "I feel better."

He eyed her warily, backing away from her, but not too far.

She smiled at him lovingly, before she closed her eyes and began to chant, placing one hand on Tyler.

Everyone was quiet while she chanted, all of them wondering and waiting. It was a few minutes before she opened her eyes and they heard Tyler begin to moan.

"How are you feeling, Ty?" Vella asked as she reached out her hand to help him sit up.

He blinked his eyes a few times in confusion. "Uh, I think I'm fine now. What happened?"

"We'll talk about that later. Right now we need to get back to the boarding house," she replied.

Damon reached his hand out, helping Tyler to stand, which surprised both Tyler and Vella.

As Vella tried to stand, her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell backwards. Damon rushed to catch her before she hit the ground. But since everyone had been focused on her, no one realized the same thing had happened to Sam, until he hit the ground.

"Sam!" Dean yelled, scrambling over to him, trying to lift him into his arms.

Damon rolled his eyes and sighed. "Here, Dean," he said, holding out Vella for him to carry. "You take her and I'll carry your brother. Somehow I don't think you're strong enough to carry him."

He glared at him for a moment, before he realized what he'd said. He was willing to risk him hurting his wife just so he could help his brother. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy, he thought, before agreeing to his suggestion. At the very least he trusted him, which was good enough in his book.

After telling Tyler to stay close to Dean, Damon picked Sam up, slung him over his shoulder and ran off towards the boarding house. Dean was close behind him, carrying Vella gingerly.

Damon came to take his wife from Dean's arms before he had even made it out of the trees, so he continued the rest of the way unencumbered by her weight, but not by his worry. He wasn't sure why his brother had suddenly passed out at the same time as Vella, and he had no idea why it had happened to her as well. He was beginning to think he may never get back home.

When he walked into the boarding house, he could hear Damon snapping at his brother. He had no desire to listen, so he went up the stairs to find his brother, who was lying in the bed he'd slept in the night before.

He sat on the bed beside his brother, checking for a pulse, which seemed to be strong. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he knew it has something to do with Vella, and he was not pleased about it. He knew he needed her help to get out of this place and back home, but he was determined to find out what was going on between her and his brother. He had suspected Sam was hiding something, now he was pretty positive he was. He only wished he knew what it could be.

Dean sat on the bed watching his brother sleep for a few hours before he was disturbed. He'd been expecting someone to bother him, but he was truly surprised when it was Stefan.

"How's your brother doing?" Stefan asked as he approached the bed.

He had to bite his tongue before he answered so he wouldn't snap.

"I don't know. He seems okay, except that he's not awake."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," he replied sympathetically. "Vella will make sure of it."

He narrowed his eyes. "I think she's the problem."

"I don't know what's going on, Dean. But what I do know is, Vella will do what she can to help him."

He snorted. "I can see why your brother is angry with you all the time. Even I can see how much you care about his wife."

He glanced down in shame for a moment. "I share a bond with her, that's all it is. I'm in love with someone else."

Dean didn't seem convinced, but he didn't really care. He only cared about his own brother.

"You'll excuse me if I don't believe you, Stefan. I've seen people in denial, and you have a clear case of it."

He laughed lightly. "I guess it takes one to know one."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked suspiciously.

"You're in denial about being here and who sent you here. Aren't you?" he asked shrewdly. "Or am I wrong about that?"

He narrowed his eyes. "You're not wrong. Not that it's any of your business."

He sighed lightly. "I know we're just a bunch of monsters to you Dean, but we are not your enemy. Maybe it's time you remembered that."

He snorted in response. "And how do I know I can trust all of you?"

"That's your issue, not ours. We want you back where you came from just as badly as you want out of here," he replied. "Your being here is upsetting the balance in nature, which is upsetting Vella. Not that I'm sure you care."

"Somehow I think you care enough for the both of us," he mumbled under his breath.

He shook his head in disbelief. "You should remember who you're speaking to, Dean. I have more patience than my brother. And maybe you're at ease because you've noticed that he, _usually_, does what his wife asks. But don't think that would stop him from killing you if he wanted to."

"And what about you, Stefan?"

He was silent for a moment, pondering his response.

"If I had to kill you I would," he replied. "But I would take no pleasure in it. My brother on the other hand—sometimes does."

Dean was quiet for a moment, glancing at his brother to see if he was waking yet.

"What about you, Dean?" he asked. "Do you take pleasure in killing?"

He gazed at him evenly, before looking away slightly in shame. "Sometimes I do. But what I kill deserves it."

"Is that truly what you believe, Dean?" he asked. "How are you any different from my brother? He believes they deserved it as well."

"What's your point, Stefan?"

"We all see things differently. You can lie to me, or to your brother, but you can never lie to yourself. Remember that," he replied as he turned and left the room.

For a moment, Dean felt ashamed. But it didn't take more than a moment to convince himself that he didn't need to listen to anything Stefan had said. He was just a monster after all, and he'd probably killed more people in his lifetime than he'd killed monsters. But in the silence that followed, it was difficult not to think about what he'd said. Murderer or not, deep down he knew Stefan was right. He could never lie to himself. Not all the booze in the world had ever been able to make the pain of lying to himself disappear.

While he was contemplating things, Sam began to rouse. First, it began as quiet mumbling and the odd jerk of a limb. But it wasn't long before he opened his eyes, glancing around in shock and curiosity.

"Where am I?" he asked, bolting upright. "What happened?"

"I don't know, Sam," he replied with relief. "All I know is Vella collapsed at the same time."

He stared at his brother unseeing for a moment before looking away.

"Sam? What is it?" he asked with concern.

"Nothing, Dean," he replied, shaking his head. "I was just worried about Vella."

"Don't tell me you've fallen for her, Sam?"

"It's not like that, Dean."

"Then how is it like?"

He shook his head in refusal. "We're not getting into this right now," he said, throwing back the covers from the bed. "I wanna go downstairs and see if she's okay."

"Wait, what?" he said, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Are you being serious right now? You just woke up and we don't even know what the hell happened to you!"

"I know what happened," Vella said quietly as she walked into the room, closely followed by Damon. "But you'll excuse me if I check over Sam before we talk about it, Dean."

He wanted to tell her to get lost, but for some reason he couldn't. He was too worried about his brother. Right now his anger towards her was less than his concern for his brother.

She sat on the bed beside his brother, taking a hand in both of hers and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she looked much wearier, but also seemed much more optimistic.

"He'll be fine," she said as she glanced at Dean. "Nothing a bit of rest won't cure."

"Then explain what you did to him?" he asked harshly.

"Mind your tongue," Damon replied angrily.

"No, it's okay, Damon," she said as she stood up from the bed. "He has every right to be upset."

She walked over to her husband, grasping his hands tightly, her eyes apologetic. "It's my fault, Damon. I'm the one who hurt, Sam. But I didn't mean to."

"How?" he asked with concern, as tears began to develop in her eyes.

"You're not gonna be happy about it," she replied sadly.

"I'm a big boy now," he teased, trying to lighten her mood.

She smiled slightly for a moment, before looking at him remorsefully. "I accidentally drew energy from Sam while I was healing Tyler."

He looked at her curiously for a moment before a look of understanding passed his eyes. "But how did it happen? I thought you were doing better."

She shook her head regretfully. "I'm still not in control. You know what—_he_, did to me. I'm still not over it."

He pulled her into an embrace, gazing deep into her eyes. He spoke quietly, pain in his voice. "I wish I could take away your pain."

"So you're not angry with me?" she asked. "About the blood bond?"

He shook his head lightly. "Not angry. Just upset."

"I'm sorry, Damon. It was an accident."

"We've been through too much to let something silly like this come between us," he replied with a tender smile.

She returned his smile with one of her own.

"This is all very touching and everything, but I want you to explain this blood bond thing," Dean asked loudly.

Damon turned in his direction, shooting him a dangerous glare.

"Damon," she called, lying her hand on his shoulder to calm him. "It's okay." She turned in his direction. "I will explain, but first, there's something more important going on."

"What could be more important than whatever the hell you've done to my brother?" he snapped.

"Dean!" his brother called.

"No, Sam! I've told you before not to trust monsters. They're all the same."

"Enough!" Vella yelled loudly, surprising everyone in the room. "While I was unconscious, more demons entered this world."

"What? How many?".

"She doesn't know, Dean," his brother replied.

He glanced at Sam with a confused look. "I'm not gonna ask you how you know that."

"Yeah. Don't."

"Look, we don't have time for this," she said with frustration. "Damon. Could you please take Sam downstairs while I explain the blood bond to Dean?"

He glanced at her with apprehension. "I don't know if that's a good idea."

"He'll behave himself," Sam said, before shooting his brother a knowing look. "Won't you?"

He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly. "Yeah. I guess."

He shot his brother a serious look before he got up from the bed and walked out of the room, Damon following behind him, hesitantly.

She sat down on the bed as soon as Sam and Damon had left the room, staring at Dean pensively for a moment, before she did her best to explain the bond to him.

"How long will this bond last?" he asked calmly, although he felt anything but calm.

"It usually lasts forever, Dean," she replied regretfully. "But, it does fade over time. As long as we don't continue to exchange blood, it will weaken." She stood up with a note of finality. "And I'm sure once you're back home, it will be a long forgotten memory."

Dean watched her leave with mixed emotions. He wanted to continue to think of her as a monster, but he just couldn't. He found her much more human than a lot of humans he'd met in his life. And although he was upset about the bond between her and Sam, he couldn't find anything terribly wrong with it—as long as it didn't hurt him.

After he pondered things for a short time, he headed downstairs to join the rest of the household. There was work to do, and he couldn't let it wait any longer. That wasn't his way.

**A/N: So what did you think? I know this chapter was a little short for me, but hey, maybe the next one will be long lol. It might be awhile to update anyway. I need to work on my TVD fanfic, and this next chapter is very... involving and emotional (for me).**

**Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 ~ Pain, Promises and Regrets

*** Spoiler Alert***

***There are spoilers in this story if you read my TVD fanfic. So don't read on if you don't want to see them.***

Dean walked into the livingroom feeling like all eyes were on him. He wasn't sure if they were all glancing in his direction, or if it was his guilt that made him feel like he was being watched. Either way, he didn't like it. He figured they were all wondering what he was going to do, how he was going to react after what he'd found out However, he didn't really have anything to say for a change. All he wanted to do was get home as soon as possible. That was his number one concern.

"So what're we gonna do about these demons?" he asked no one in particular, as he sat down on the chair beside his brother.

Everyone glanced around at each other, no one quite sure of an answer to his question.

"If I could figure out how to send you two back," she said glancing at each of the brothers in turn, "then I could send them back with you."

Dean was frustrated and had no idea what magic was like, but he couldn't understand why it was taking so long for her to figure out how to send them home. He wanted to lash out in frustration, but he decided the best course of action was to keep himself in check. He figured he could take out his frustrations on the demons, when he caught up to some.

"I believe we need to think of a strategy," Stefan suggested. "Sitting here waiting for another attack seems foolish."

"Ooooh, now we're talking," Damon said excitedly, ignoring the look of concern from his wife. "Let's go find them before they find us."

"That's not exactly a strategy, Damon," his brother replied.

"Do you have a better idea, Stefan?" he asked snidly. "Do you happen to know what they're planning?"

He shrugged his shoulders, unwilling to get into an argument with him.

"Wait," Sam said suddenly. "What if we trap one of them. Find out what they're planning. Maybe they know how to get back."

Everyone was quiet for a moment pondering his suggestion. It was Damon who spoke first.

"Sounds reckless. I like it."

His wife shot him a dirty look, before turning to Sam. "Trapping one sounds like a good idea, but, easier said than done."

"Not necessarily," Dean said with a grin. "You just gotta know what you're doing."

"Dean," his brother called with a note of warning.

"No, Sammy. Nothing stupid," he said, turning his gaze towards Vella. "We just need an invisible devil's trap. Somewhere in an open space where they wouldn't suspect."

Vella grinned. "That might be crazy enough to work."

"Could you do it?"

"Should be simple enough," she replied, shooting Damon a reassuring glance. "I just need you to draw it on a piece of paper for me."

He smiled widely, nodding his head.

"And I suppose we're," Damon asked, pointing at himself and his brother. "gonna be the ones who'll be luring the damn thing there?"

Dean glanced at him with a smirk. "It could be worse. You could be the bait."

"Nah. I'll leave the boring stuff to you and your brother."

He rolled his eyes but didn't respond.

"When are we gonna do this?" Sam asked.

Everyone simultaneously glanced at Vella, who shrugged her shoulders.

"When I feel up to it," she said, once again shooting Damon a reassuring glance. "I really need to, uh, feed."

The Winchester brothers looked at each with unease.

"However, I think I will call Bonnie first and see if she can come with us. Just in case."

Damon smiled happily at his wife. That she was even willing to allow Bonnie to help her was the best news he could hope for. He was already sick with worry. He'd almost lost her a few times and he couldn't go through it again. He just wanted the Winchesters back where ever it was they came from, so he could go back to loving his wife and not worrying so much about her.

Vella stood up from the couch and left the room to call Bonnie, with Damon steps behind her. Stefan waited until they'd left the room before he left as well, leaving the Winchesters alone.

"I don't think this is a good idea, Dean," Sam said as he turned to his brother.

"Why not?" he asked with surprise.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno. I just have a bad feeling about it."

"Well, you're gonna have to give me a better reason than you have a bad feeling, Sam."

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I can't give you a better reason than that."

His brother gazed at him with suspicion. "Does this have anything to do with Vella?"

"No," he protested. "Not at all."

"Right," he replied with sarcasm. "Why is it I don't believe you?"

"Believe whatever you want, Dean. I don't care," he replied angrily. "But this is our lives we're talking about."

"And you don't think I know that?"

"Then why does it seem like you're ready to die?" he asked shrewdly. "Is this about, Cas?"

He narrowed his eyes dangerously. "This has nothing to do with, Cas! I just want the hell outta this place!"

"Even if it costs you your life?"

He averted his eyes, speaking much calmer. "I just wanna get home, Sam. Is that so wrong?"

He snorted and shook his head, but didn't respond. He knew he was upset about Cas, and most definitely upset about the bond he shared with Vella. And he knew when his brother is upset, he becomes reckless.

The brothers sat in silence for a long time, each thinking about something different.

Dean was wondering when everything with Cas had gone so horribly wrong, and somehow blamed himself for not being there to guide him after the apocalypse. It didn't matter that Cas was an angel and could only be seen if he wanted to. And it didn't matter that he'd done what everyone had wanted him to do, move on and have a life with Lisa and Ben. All it meant now was that he had failed his friend, and somehow it was all his fault. He only hoped he could get back home in time to help set Cas straight. He was going to do anything and everything to make sure that happened. It was the least he could do.

Sam was worried about his brother. He knew Dean was feeling reckless, and he also knew Damon could be just as reckless as his brother. He didn't need the bond between himself and Vella to know that, it only confirmed it. So if the two of them began working together, well, he was afraid of what that might mean for his brother. Nothing good, he was sure of it. He wished he knew why Dean was feeling so reckless. He knew it had something to do with Cas. What he didn't understand was why. But he was pretty sure he wasn't going to open up about it, so that left him trying to figure out how to help him on his own.

Damon and Vella made it back to the house about twenty minutes after they'd left. Both were smiling and Vella seemed to look a little healthier, which Sam knew she was since he could feel it. And maybe he was paranoid, but he thought she had flashed him a bright smile when their eyes met. He tried his best not react, but he had a difficult time stifling a smile.

"Bonnie will be here soon," Vella informed the brothers as she stopped in front of them. "Whatever is going on between you two, I think you better deal with it before we head out."

"What the—" Dean said.

Sam looked away in shame.

"How would you know what's going on?" Dean asked her with irritation.

Damon shot him a warning glance.

Vella placed her hand on her husband's shoulder, knowing just by his posture he had become defensive.

"I know Sam is upset about something," she replied shrewdly. "Are you gonna tell me it has nothing to do with you?"

He gazed at her angrily for a moment, but the warning look on Damon's face made him think twice about his hostility.

"It's not really any of your business," he replied harshly.

"Actually it is," she replied intently. "If you're planning on being reckless than you can just stay here. I can't be worrying about you."

"Who asked you to?" he snapped.

She shook her head in disbelief, gazing at him with a hardened look. "You did, Dean. When you accepted my help to get you back home."

His shoulders slumped slightly in defeat, but he didn't back down. "It's not your job to worry about me, so forget about it."

She rolled her eyes in annoyance, being reminded of someone else. He seemed to know what she was thinking, turning to face her with the slightest hint of a grin.

"I'll talk to him if you want," Damon offered quietly.

She raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Really?"

"I'm offended that you're suspicious of my motives," he teased with a grin.

"I don't think it's your motives I'm suspicious of," she replied.

"I'm hurt," he mocked.

She narrowed her eyes, deciding on a different strategy.

"So, you want me to be alone with, Sam?" she whispered quietly. "Is that it?"

He narrowed his eyes, clearly not amused. "Your attempt at reverse psychology isn't going to work with me this time."

"Oh! Is that what I was doing?" she teased with a grin.

He smiled, as he leaned closer to her ear. "I promise I'll behave."

She narrowed her eyes in warning. "Don't forget that you promised. You know what'll happen if you break it."

He flashed her a bright smile before kissing her once on the lips gently. "Of course, love."

She rolled her eyes in response, however, she couldn't help but smile slightly in amusement.

"Let's go, Dean," Damon said as he turned around to face the brothers.

"Huh? Where are we going?" he asked with confusion.

"We're going out for a drink," he replied, quickly adding. "And we're taking my car. Yours will draw too much attention."

He glanced at his brother questioningly, but he only shrugged his shoulders. So after a moments hesitation, he reluctantly stood up, following Damon from the house.

Vella waited until they had left before she sat down beside Sam, who was looking utterly uncomfortable with his brother's absence.

"Do you wanna tell me what's going on, Sam?" she prodded.

He shrugged his shoulders. "You already know, don't you?"

She smiled slightly with amusement. "I get feelings, Sam. Not thoughts. I'm not psychic."

He sighed. "It's, Dean. I don't know what the hell is going on with him."

"You must have some idea, Sam. You're with him all the time," she replied. "Even I have a clue what it might be."

"You do?" he asked with surprise.

She smiled in slight amusement, shaking her head in disbelief. "Are you really that clueless, Sam?" she asked, before uttering, "Men!" under her breath.

"I guess," he replied, sounding more like a question instead of an answer.

She snorted lightly before standing up from the couch and walking over to the liquor cabinet. After pouring herself a glass of vodka, she once again sat beside Sam, taking a sip before speaking.

"You do realize this has something to do with Castiel, right?" she asked, setting her glass down on the coffee table.

He was quiet for a short time, staring at the glass she'd set on the table. When he looked at her again, his expression was blank.

"Isn't it still a bit early to be drinking?"

She raised her palm to her face, shaking her head in disbelief. When she removed her hand, she was gazing at him intently.

"No changing the subject, Sam," she replied with a serious gaze. "Maybe you and Dean prefer to avoid speaking about your problems, but I'm not gonna just let it go."

"Why, Vella? Why does it matter so much to you?" he asked with irritation. "Is this all because you know us from some TV show?"

She was silent for a few moments, more to regain her composure than to actually think of a response. She knew what she was going to say. She just figured it would be more effective if she didn't yell it at him.

"The TV show has nothing to do with it," she replied honestly. "I know it's hard to explain, but I can feel your pain. And not just some of it either. I can...never mind."

"What were you gonna say?"

"No," she replied as she stood up, reaching for her glass as she did so. "Forget it."

He watched her down her drink quickly, a haunted look in her eyes. He didn't know what had changed her mind so quickly, but he wanted to find out, since he could feel her pain as well. Only he was positive it wasn't nearly as pronounced as it seemed to be for her. She seemed to pick up on much more than he could.

He stood up after a few moments, following her to the liquor cabinet. As she picked up the bottle to pour herself another drink, he snatched it from her hands, setting it back down.

"Sam," she said as she turned around, her face not far from his. "It's better if I don't bring it up."

"Well I'm not dropping this either," he replied adamantly.

She sighed loudly. "Trust me, Sam. You don't want me to bring this up."

"I don't understand," he said, shaking his head.

She placed a hand on his shoulder, tears welling up in her eyes. "I feel it, Sam. Everything you went through in hell," she paused to wipe her eyes, almost choking as she went on. "You may not remember it right now, but it's there. And it's awful."

He gazed at her sadly before he pulled her into an embrace, holding her tightly until her sobbing subsided. He felt terrible for her. He couldn't even remember what had happened to him in hell. But Death himself had felt the need to put a wall up so he wouldn't remember any of it. So he was pretty sure it must be more terrible than he could even imagine.

"I'm sorry, Vella," he said as he loosened his grip, pulling away slightly. "I wish you couldn't feel any of that."

As she gazed up at him sorrowfully, she brushed her fingers across his face, cupping his cheek. "Whatever you do, don't ever try to remember any of it."

His brow furrowed as he shook his head in agreement.

"Promise me, Sam," she begged with concern. "Please?"

"I promise," he replied quietly, suddenly more afraid of his memories than he had been. He wiped a tear that had fallen down her cheek, feeling guilty for inadvertently causing her pain.

She smiled lightly, removing her hand from his face. But the sad, sorrowful look didn't leave her eyes, despite the smile.

"I had no idea," he said, feeling slightly ashamed.

"I know. I wasn't going to tell you."

He could feel the pain she was in and he didn't like that he was the cause of it. He felt the need to comfort her, so he attempted to pull her into an embrace but she pulled away before he could.

"That's not a good idea, Sam," she said apologetically, backing away a few steps.

"I just wanted to—"

"I know," she interrupted. "But I'm a little too vulnerable right now. I can't take the chance I will hurt you, or do something else I'll regret."

"I thought you could control your bloodlust?" he asked curiously.

She sighed lightly. "Usually, yes. I've just been through a lot lately. And like I told you, your blood is very potent."

He smiled supportively. "Maybe it's you that needs someone to talk to."

She smiled slightly in amusement at his behaviour. She knew he was the more intuitive brother, and definitely more compassionate. But she'd never imagined having this kind of conversation with him.

"I have people to talk to, Sam."

"But you don't, do you? Talk that is."

Her smiled disappeared quickly, replaced by a slight frown.

"I can't talk to them about my problems, Sam. They don't understand."

He snorted. "So I should speak about my problems, but you don't have to. Does that sound right to you?"

She shot him a stern look before she turned around, her back facing him.

"It's not that I don't want to talk, Sam," she replied softly. "They just don't understand what I went through."

He stepped closer, placing his hand on her back supportively. "What is it?"

She closed her eyes, fighting for control of her emotions. It had been some time since she'd been upset like this. But the pain and terror he'd experienced in hell, was similar to the pain and terror she'd experienced while in Klaus' custody. She hadn't wanted to be reminded of the torture she'd endured, but his experience had brought back every memory of her torture and torment as if it was fresh again.

"Let's just say we're kindred spirits and leave it at that," she replied quietly.

He removed his hand from her back and walked around so he could face her. She was looking down towards the floor, so he gently lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes.

"What does that mean?" he asked gently.

She pushed his hand away from her, narrowing her eyes in warning. "Leave it alone, Sam."

"No. I don't think I can do that," he replied stubbornly. "You obviously need someone to talk to. Since we're kindred spirits—"

"Leave it alone!" she yelled furiously with her fangs bared.

She had tried her best to keep herself calm, but every memory of Klaus she remembered had made it more and more difficult to control herself, until she was completely filled with rage.

"Vella, you need to calm down," he said as calmly as possible, placing his hand on her shoulder supportively.

Touching her was a bad mistake. She was already seething and finding it difficult to control herself, so the touch was what set her off. She shoved him backwards where he smacked up against the wall. Pinning him against the wall by his shoulders, she bared her teeth and looked as if she was about to strike, but she held herself where she was. Her face was ashen, her eyes mostly black with a touch of red, the veins on her face pulsing and grotesque.

Sam felt like he was about to lose conciousness for a moment as he hit the wall, but it passed quickly. He'd never imagined that such a beautiful woman could look so ugly—or frightening—but she did at that moment—and he was scared. He knew there was no one else in the house at the moment, and he also knew she craved his blood. Even as he tried to use all of his strength to keep her away from him, it did nothing. His last resort was to try and reason with her.

"Vella, snap out of it. You know you don't want to hurt me," he said, trying to convince her as much as himself.

A hint of understanding passed through her eyes, but not enough to calm her down.

"Vella, please?" he begged. "You know this isn't you. You can fight the anger."

It took a moment, but eventually she seemed to understand. At the very least, her face relaxed, turning back to its natural flesh color, and the tension in her body relaxed slightly. However, she didn't release her grip on his shoulders or retract her fangs.

"Vella?" he called gently. "Are you okay?"

She continued to gaze at him intently for a few moments before tears began developing in her eyes, and she was finally able to retract her fangs. The moment she released her grip on him, her hands flew to her face as she began to sob.

He wasn't sure what he should do, but he couldn't just stand by and watch her cry. He took a tenative step forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. When she didn't pull away, he decided to pull her close, wrapping his arms around her in a protective embrace.

She allowed Sam to hold her while she cried, but only because she was too distraught to trust her reactions at the moment. More than anything, she was guilty. However, she was also incredibly disappointed in herself for losing her self control like she had. It had been months since the last time it had happened, and Damon had been there that time to stop her just as he always was. She was frightened to think what might have happened if Sam hadn't been able to snap her out of it.

He wasn't sure why, but Sam began to gently stroke Vella's hair as he held her. He noticed it quickly had a calming effect, as her sobbing began to subside. When he looked back at this moment later, he realized the reason he knew how to calm her was through the connection they shared. However, if he had known this, he wouldn't have done it. Their connection was already intimate enough. This was just adding more fuel to the fire.

When her sobbing finally subsided, she tried to pull away from him, but he wouldn't allow her to.

"Sam," she called meekly, raising her head to gaze at him once quickly before averting her eyes. "Let go of me, please."

"No," he replied gently. "Not until I know you're okay."

She snorted in disbelief. "I almost killed you and you're worried about me?"

"You didn't almost kill me," he replied reassuringly.

"Yes. I did, Sam," she snapped. "You have no idea."

"No, you didn't," he said softly as he brushed hair from her face. "You just thought you were going to."

Her rage had completely disappeared, but her anxiety was still present. She knew at any moment she could suffer another outburst. But at the moment, Sam's gentle touch had a major calming effect on her. However, she knew it was wrong to feel the way she did. She knew he was only feeding on the connection between them, and she knew better. She just had no willpower to fight it.

"Sam," she called half-heartedly. "You need to release me. Now."

He continued to stroke her hair lightly, not even realizing why he was doing it. All he knew was it felt right. Without another thought, he pulled her body hard against him, pressing his lips onto hers, lightly at first, but as she returned the kiss it became much deeper. His hands gripping her tightly, he pushed her up against the wall he'd been held against not long before, his lips moving down her neck.

While she'd felt what his intentions were, she was still caught completely by surprise when he grabbed her tightly and pushed her against the wall. She wanted to stop, but the connection between them was too strong at the moment, and she was completely swept up in the passion. As he moved his lips down to her neck, she closed her eyes, digging her nails into his back. But soon, it wasn't nearly enough. Using her vampire speed and strength, she pulled him towards the couch, pushing him down onto it and straddled him, ripping off his shirt.

He seemed surprised by her actions, however, he didn't try and stop her as she leaned down and kissed his lips with fervor, moving quickly to his neck. He could suddenly feel her need to pierce his neck with her fangs, but somehow it didn't matter to him at that moment. He wanted to give her whatever she needed, no matter how he felt about it.

As she leaned in to bite his neck, something made her stop and look up. She glanced around quickly, but found no one. However, her eyes had flitted across her wedding photo, which was on the table beside the couch. Suddenly reality came crashing down on her and she began to feel like there was a heavy weight on her chest.

"Oh my god!" she said with a horrified look as she climbed off of Sam, her hands quickly flying to her face so she could hide her shame.

He laid on the couch, stunned for a moment before he climbed up from the couch, glancing down at his torn shirt quickly before turning his gaze in Vella's direction. He didn't know who felt more ashamed at the moment, but he knew better than to mess with a married woman. Especially the wife of a very jealous vampire. He had no idea what had got into him, but he silently vowed not to allow it to happen again.

"Vella?" he called awkwardly, taking a step closer.

She shook her head, mumbling something inaudible through her hands, which were still covering her face.

He reached his hand out to place on her shoulder supportively, but quickly pulled it away. He didn't think it would be a good idea to have more physical contact of any kind with her at the moment, or perhaps ever again.

"We need to talk about this," he finally blurted out as the awkward silence continued.

She was still for a moment before her hands slowly fell from her face, revealing regretful eyes and tear stained cheeks.

"There's nothing to speak about," she replied with an even tone.

He gazed at her with shock. "Seriously? I definitely think we have something to talk about. We almost..."

She shook her head sorrowfully. "No. Not _we_, Sam."

"Huh?"

She sighed loudly, wiping the tears from her face. "Look, Sam. It would take too much to explain."

He crossed his arms in front of him with a serious look. "Damon is gonna kill me when he finds out, so, yeah, you're gonna explain it to me."

She looked horrified for a moment before a look of sadness once again settled on her face. "I think you should change your shirt first."

He glanced at himself quickly, nodding his head in agreement. "As soon as I get back then."

She nodded her head once, watching him leave before she went to the liquor cabinet and poured herself a drink. She downed the contents of the glass quickly, standing with the empty glass in her hand for a few moments trying to decide if she should have another. But as her mind wandered to Damon, she knew he wouldn't want her drinking too much when he wasn't around. She'd made that promise to him in the past, and she wanted to keep it. So, she finally decided to sit in a chair near to the couch and wait for Sam to get back downstairs.

The waiting was almost unbearable for her. She didn't want to discuss what had just happened. She didn't even want to remember it. If she could have, she would have chosen to forget it had ever happened. But she knew there was no way Sam was going to let it go, and she felt that he was owed an explanation, regardless of how she felt.

When Sam made it back downstairs he had a new shirt on, which looked much like the old one. He seemed to blush slightly as he sat down on the couch while gazing at her expectationally. It was so slight, she wouldn't have noticed if she wasn't a vampire, but she did and it made her feel even more awkward about the situation. She didn't even know where to begin, but she knew the only way she was going to get through it is if she just jumped right into it.

She sighed loudly as she looked at him ruefully. "Just over half a year ago, I was held captive by a very cruel and vicious vampire. He spent as much time as he could trying to break me to his will. But I'm stubborn, so he felt the need to torture me as much as he could. Most of it was mental, but, occasionally it was physical as well." She paused for a moment, trying desperately to keep from crying. The look of horror and pity on Sam's face didn't make it any easier. "When I finally got away from him we all thought he was dead, but he wasn't. I know you won't understand, but he is an Original vampire, kinda like an Alpha." She continued when she saw his look of understanding. "He formed this bond, like the one we have Sam, only different."

"How different?" he asked when she paused for too long.

"His blood is different from the average vampire, more potent I guess you could say. He's been able to influence me through the bond, speaking to me, taunting me, sometimes encouraging me to do things I don't want to," she averted her eyes for a moment sadly. "I've been keeping myself strong for months. And with the help of Damon and Bonnie, I've been able to block him out. But now..."

"What?"

She shook her head sadly. "Trying to work through this demon problem has weakened me considerably. I didn't realize Klaus was in my head again, until, well..." she trailed off for a moment suddenly looking embarrased. "Until I was on top of you and I looked at my wedding photo. That was when I heard a maniacal laugh in my head."

He gazed at her apologetically. "I'm not sure what got into me."

She glanced down at her hands, which she'd just folded together. "I'm afraid that was sort of my fault."

He gazed at her with confusion. "How?"

She gazed at him again looking utterly embarrassed. "When you began stroking my hair, well, it's what Damon does to calm me. Somehow you picked up on that through our connection, which I might have done inadvertently. I don't know. I wasn't really in control of myself."

An uncomfortable silence followed, neither of them knew what else to say to each other. Vella was ashamed, guilty and heartbroken. She knew Damon was going to be incredibly hurt when he finds out what happened between Sam and herself. She also knew he would probably forgive her—when he finds out the circumstances. But that didn't make her feel any better about it. She didn't like to hurt Damon, whether he would forgive her or not. He was the one person in the world she never wanted to hurt. He'd been through so much in the past year, she didn't want to put him through more. And now she was going to have to tell him he was probably right. Taking on the Winchester problem is probably too much for her right now. Too bad there wasn't another way. They needed to be sent back, and she was the most powerful witch around.

Sam wasn't quite sure what to make of Vella's story, besides feeling bad for her. However, he did feel guilty that she'd originally become upset because of the things she'd seen in his mind. He was pretty sure it was the reason she'd lost control. And now that he knew what she'd been through in the past, he could understand why. He didn't even know what hell was like. All he knew was that Death himself had said he would be destroyed by those memories, and that he should never try to break the wall inside his head. He had no intention of letting that happen. He only wished Vella hadn't seen those memories. He couldn't even say that he would have blamed her if she'd actually killed him after seeing them.

It was many minutes later when Vella finally broke the silence between them. She notified him she was heading upstairs to lay down before sweeping from the room quickly, leaving no chance for him to respond. He figured it was probably a good thing because he had no idea what to say to her. And now, he didn't even know what to do with himself. He wanted to speak to his brother, but even if he had a phone he wouldn't know what to say. He just felt lost, and his brother was always his anchor when he felt that way.

Eventually, he decided to go back up to his bedroom and do some research about Mystic Falls on his borrowed laptop, while waiting for Damon to return with his brother, and the eventual fallout from his actions.

**A/N: First of all, yes, the next chapter will include Damon and Dean's outing together. This chapter was actually supposed to be done last weekend, but I had a difficult time with one part of it. I will do my best to update this again soon. I know it was way too long between updates.**

**Thanks for reading!**


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